The Ramstein airshow disaster was one of the world's worst airshow disasters which took place in front of an audience of 300,000 people on August 28, 1988 in Ramstein, county of Kaiserslautern, Germany, at the US Ramstein Air Base airshow Flugtag '88. Sixty-seven spectators and three pilots were killed and 346 spectators were seriously injured in the resulting explosion and fire. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 240th day of the year (241st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Boeing C-17A Lot XII Globemaster III Serial 00-0172 Spirit of the Cascades at the Ramstein cargo terminal. ... The Aermacchi MB-339 is an Italian military trainer and attack aircraft. ... The Frecce Tricolori aerobatics team of the Italian Air Force, flying at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford, England, in 2005 Frecce Tricolori (Three-coloured Arrows) is the precision aerobatic demonstration team for the Italian Air Force. ... Coat of arms of the Italian Air Force The Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI) is the air force of Italy. ... The Frecce Tricolori aerobatics team of the Italian Air Force, flying at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford, England, in 2005 Frecce Tricolori (Three-coloured Arrows) is the precision aerobatic demonstration team for the Italian Air Force. ... The UK Utterly Butterly wing-walking display team flying Boeing Stearman PT-17 biplanes An airshow is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their flying machines to the crowd. ... is the 240th day of the year (241st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Ramstein-Miesenbach is a union community near Kaiserslautern in the Rhineland Palatinate province of Germany. ... This article is about the city. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Boeing C-17A Lot XII Globemaster III Serial 00-0172 Spirit of the Cascades at the Ramstein cargo terminal. ...

Background

Ten Aermacchi MB-339 PAN jets from the Italian Air Force display team, Frecce Tricolori, were performing their 'pierced heart' (Italian: Cardioide, German: Durchstoßenes Herz) formation. In the 'pierced heart' formation two groups of aircraft create a heartshape in front of the audience along the runway. In the completion of the lower tip of the heart, the two groups of planes pass each other parallel to the runway. The heart is then pierced in the direction towards the audience by a lone aircraft. The Aermacchi MB-339 is an Italian military trainer and attack aircraft. ... Coat of arms of the Italian Air Force The Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI) is the air force of Italy. ... The Frecce Tricolori aerobatics team of the Italian Air Force, flying at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford, England, in 2005 Frecce Tricolori (Three-coloured Arrows) is the precision aerobatic demonstration team for the Italian Air Force. ...

Crash

Crash

The standby MEDEVAC helicopter after being hit by one of the aircraft

The collision took place as the two heart-forming groups passed each other and the heart-piercing aircraft hit them. The piercing aircraft crashed onto the runway, it and its resulting fireball of aviation fuel tumbled into the spectator area, hitting an ice cream van and many of its customers, resulting in a deadly fire in the crowd. At the same time, one of the damaged aircraft from the heart-forming group crashed into the emergency medical evacuation UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, killing both pilots and injuring the emergency medical technician who died weeks later from burns he suffered in the accident. The pilot of the aircraft that hit the helicopter had ejected, but he was killed as he hit the runway before his parachute opened. The third aircraft disintegrated in the collision and parts of it were spread along the runway.,^[1] After the crash, the remaining aircraft regrouped and landed at Sembach Air Base. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (664x674, 52 KB) Summary Medevac helicopter after being hit by a downed aircraft during the 1988 Ramstein airshow disaster. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (664x674, 52 KB) Summary Medevac helicopter after being hit by a downed aircraft during the 1988 Ramstein airshow disaster. ... For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation). ... An aviation fuel truck. ... A [PC-12] of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. ... It has been suggested that Sikorsky S-70 be merged into this article or section. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... US Air Force F-15 Eagle ejection seat test using a mannequin. ... The Apollo 15 capsule landed safely despite a parachute failure. ... Sembach AB, Germany is a U.S. Air Force installation located off of B-40 near Kaiserslautern, Germany. ...

Emergency response

Of the 31 people who died at the scene, 28 had been hit by shrapnel.^[2] Sixteen of the fatalities occurred in the days and weeks after the disaster due to severe burns, the last being the burned and injured med-tech from the helicopter. In total about 500 people had to seek hospital treatment following the event.^[3] This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

The disaster revealed serious shortcomings in the handling of large-scale medical emergencies by German civil and American military authorities and their cooperation. The rescue work was criticized for lacking efficiency and coordination. The rescue coordination center in Kaiserslautern was unaware of the disaster's scale as much as an hour after its occurrence, although several German Medevac helicopters and ambulances had already arrived on site and left with patients. American helicopters and ambulances provided the quickest and largest capacities for evacuating burn victims, but could not provide or find sufficient capacities for treating them. More than two hours after the disaster, German paramedics arrived at the Landstuhl U.S. military hospital and found large numbers of severely burnt but completely unattended patients. A bus transporting unattended patients arrived at a Ludwigshafen hospital 80 km from the accident site, nearly three hours after the disaster. The bus driver did not speak German and was unfamiliar with the area. German paramedics used intravenous catheters and lines that were not compatible with the standard used by the Americans, creating more confusion at the time. This article is about the city. ... A [PC-12] of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. ... A Paramedic is a specialized health care professional who responds to medical and trauma emergencies in the pre-hospital (out-of-hospital) environment for the purpose of stabilizing and transporting the patient to an appropriate medical facility, usually by ambulance. ... The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) is an overseas military hospital operated by the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense. ... Map of Germany showing Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ludwigshafen am Rhein is a city in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, with about 166,000 inhabitants. ... Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the giving of liquid substances directly into a vein. ... Catheter disassembled In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct or vessel. ...

Investigation

Large amounts of video were taken of the accident. Upon completing the cardioid figure, the piercing aircraft (Pony 10) came in too low and too fast at the crossing point with the other two groups (5 aircraft on the left and 4 on the right) completing the heart shaped figure. Lt. Col. Nutarelli, lead pilot and flying Pony 10, was unable to correct his altitude or slow his speed and collided with the leading airplane (Pony 1) of the left formation, destroying the plane's tail section with the front of his aicraft, as can be clearly seen in various videos of the disaster.^[4] Lt. Col. Mario Naldini's plane spiralled out of control, hitting another plane in his formation (Pony 2, piloted by Captain Giorgio Alessio) before crashing on the runway below. The third plane to be involved in the disaster, Pony 2, was severely damaged and crashed on the runway, exploding in a fireball. The debris from this airplane hit an U.S. Army MEDEVAC helicopter, killing the two pilots and severely injuring the emergency medical technician who died weeks later from burns he suffered in the accident. The pilot of the aircraft that hit the helicopter had ejected, but he was killed as he hit the runway before his parachute opened. For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation). ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... US Air Force F-15 Eagle ejection seat test using a mannequin. ... The Apollo 15 capsule landed safely despite a parachute failure. ...

The plane that started the crash, now with the forward section disintegrated following the impact with Pony 1, continued to fly pushed by its still functioning engine. The landing gear came down as the maimed aircraft lingered forward. It has been suggested that this could have been lowered intentionally as a last minute effort by Nutarelli to try and slow his plane down to avoid the impact, but there is no substantial evidence pointing to this and the undercarriage could have been lowered by a number of factors. Pony 10 impacted the ground ahead of the spectator's stands, cartwheeling for a further distance before hitting a parked ice cream van and exploding in a fireball. The entire incident, from collision of the first two planes to the crash into the spectators, took less than 10 seconds, leaving no reaction time for people in the crowd to take any evasive action to distance themselves from the incoming jet. The low altitude of the manouvre (45 metres) also contributed to shortening this time frame.

The investigation concluded that improved coordination and organization of the rescue efforts would likely have prevented some of the deaths. The German authorities vowed to avoid such failures in the future and now conduct regular large-scale drills using simulated disasters that involve all emergency services^{[citation needed]}.

Aftermath

The airshow disaster memorial with the names of the victims

Treatment of post traumatic stress disorder and accompanying suicidal tendencies among both the victims and the rescue workers has been a significant task for the authorities, especially since very little psychological support was given at the time. Since then, psychological treatment of disaster victims and rescue workers has become part of the standard operations of German emergency services. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1024, 203 KB) Summary Ramstein airshow disaster memorial Photo taken by me (Wikiped) 21. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1024, 203 KB) Summary Ramstein airshow disaster memorial Photo taken by me (Wikiped) 21. ... Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is a term for the psychological consequences of exposure to or confrontation with stressful experiences, which involve actual or threatened death, serious physical injury or a threat to physical integrity and which the person found highly traumatic. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ...

The disaster resulted in a total ban of public airshows in West Germany, which was lifted three years later and replaced with the following safety regulations:

• Increased minimum height and distance from spectators. A picture of the previous airshow in 1987 revealed that there were no safety barriers near the runways; existing rules prescribed a distance of 400 meters according to the aircraft types.
• Banning of maneuvers in the direction of spectators.
• All maneuvers subject to approval by authorities.

Ramstein Air Base itself has not held an airshow since the incident.

References in popular culture

The German NDH-Metal band Rammstein is named after the disaster and the lyrics to their song Rammstein refers to the event^{[citation needed]}. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Rammstein is a German NDH-Metal band. ... Herzeleid (German for Heartache) is the German NDH-metal band Rammsteins first musical album. ...

References

1. ^ Rocketjones survivor blog
2. ^ Ramstein survivor support group
3. ^ YouTube Ramstein base commander Col. William D. Eckhert, in video interview
4. ^ YouTube Documentary of the Ramstein disaster

External links

• TIME West Germany Hellfire, from The Heavens (TIME article).
• Robert-Stetter.de Crash moment pictures.
• Psych.org Research report on PTSD following the event.
• Airliners.net Marc Heesters.
• Survivor websites
  • Rocketjones Blog of USAF Officer based at Ramstein AB at the time of the accident.
  • Ramstein-1988.de Blog of Roland Fuchs who lost his family in the disaster.
  • Woodnotwood Blog of the disaster by USAF servicewoman.
  • Support group for the victims
  • Flugtag88.com Memorial Website.

Coordinates: 49°26′18″N, 7°36′13″E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...