This accident has really got me to thinking about why these accidents keep happening over and over and to some of the best pilots in aviation.
So after much soul searching I am going to try and explain what I think is the core reason they happen.
First off I post using my real name and my opinions are formed from actually having been an air display pilot for eight years and known and flown with some of the best in the world.
When Glen Dell died last October I was in a state of disbelief for weeks and kept looking at a picture I have of Glen and his wife Jackie and me and my wife Penne on a sail boat in Cape Town smiling and happy as kids.
As the months passed and I have slowly accepted that these things happen and Glen is gone and my wife has gone because of cancer I keep wondering why some of us go on and some do not.
There is no real clear answer, however with regard to air show accidents there are several factors which do definitely add to the risk that can be changed.
In Europe we had a 200 foot floor at all airshows that was very strictly enforced , had there been the same 200 foot floor limit at the airshow in which this pilot died he would still be alive.
Only about one in a hundred spectators have a clue about the skills needed to perform any of these displays, so why add to the risk by performing at an altitude that allows for no error?
As the age thing my thoughts are that yes, as we age our motor skills decay.
I held an unrestricted airdisplay authority for eight years and when I turned seventy I made the decision to retire because of age.
Was I still capable of flying to the same standard?
The examiner who renewed my air show license signed me off as competent....but inside I had changed and felt it was time to quit so at the end of the 2005 season I did just that.
Now I sit and just plain miss those who were not so fortunate.
Being the best in the world is not everything because once gone the crowd soon forgets who you were.
Chuck Ellsworth.