This is a year-by-year list of aviation accidents that have occurred at airshows worldwide in the 21st century.
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment, and sport. Additionally, some helicopters, such as the MBB Bo 105, are capable of limited aerobatic manoeuvres. An example of a fully aerobatic helicopter, capable of performing loops and rolls, is the Westland Lynx.
The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force (USAF). The Thunderbirds, as they are popularly known, are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created 71 years ago in 1953, the USAF Thunderbirds are the third-oldest formal flying aerobatic team in the world, after the French Air Force Patrouille de France formed in 1931 and the United States Navy Blue Angels formed in 1946.
The Snowbirds, officially known as 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, are the military aerobatics flight demonstration team of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The team is based at 15 Wing Moose Jaw near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Snowbirds' official purpose is to "demonstrate the skill, professionalism, and teamwork of Canadian Forces personnel". The team also provides a public relations and recruiting role, and serves as an aerial ambassador for the Canadian Armed Forces. The Snowbirds are the first Canadian air demonstration team to be designated as a squadron.
Surya Kiran is an aerobatics demonstration team of the Indian Air Force. The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) was formed in 1996 and is a part of the No. 52 Squadron of the Indian Air Force. The team is based at Bidar Air Force Station in Karnataka and has performed numerous demonstrations. The squadron was initially composed of the HAL HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2 trainer aircraft. The team was suspended in February 2011 and was re-established with BAE Hawk Mk.132 aircraft in 2015.
The Red Knight was a Canadian air force aerobatic display aircraft that operated from 1958 to 1969. The red-painted Silver Star performed loops, rolls, Cuban 8s, horizontal 360s, inverted flight, and high speed passes at airshows around North America, often appearing as an opening act for or in conjunction with the Golden Hawks display team and later the Golden Centennaires, Canada's contemporary aerobatic teams. The Silver Star was replaced by the Tutor in July 1968.
Sarang is an aerobatic air display team of the Indian Air Force. Formally established as the No. 151 Helicopter Unit in 2005, the unit flies five modified HAL Dhruv helicopters and is based out of Sulur Air Force Station near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
Jim LeRoy was an American aerobatics pilot. He died upon impact in a crash at the Dayton Air Show in Ohio.
Scott Manning was a Canadian aerobatic pilot of the world's smallest jet, the BD-5J.
Kirby Chambliss is an American world champion aerobatic and air race pilot who raced in the Red Bull Air Race World Series under the Red Bull brand.
The GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team was an aerobatic team that performed at airshows around the United States using six SNJ-2 World War II-era planes. The team was most recently sponsored by GEICO. The smoke system was originally controlled by a manually wired rig, then by paper punch card messages, and eventually able to handle 50,000 messages that could be reprogrammed in flight.
Shoreham Airshow took place annually in the late summer at Brighton City Airport, on the south coast of England. It was organised by volunteers from the local branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA), and held in aid of the RAFA Wings Appeal.
Sean Doherty Tucker is an American world champion aerobatic aviator. He was previously sponsored by the Oracle Corporation for many years, performing in air shows worldwide as "Team Oracle". Tucker has won numerous air show championship competitions throughout his career, was named one of the 25 "Living Legends of Flight" by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in 2003, and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008. He has led several efforts to assist youth in learning to fly or becoming involved in general aviation, and currently serves as co-chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles program, a role he has held since 2013.
The 53rd Air Demonstration Group, nicknamed the Black Eagles, is the flight display team of the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) based at Wonju, Gangwon Province.
Eastbourne Airbourne, also known as the Eastbourne International Airshow, is a 4-day international air show that runs every August in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England. The event features Battle of Britain memorial flights and aircraft from the RAF and USAF, among others, and enjoys a long relationship with the Red Arrows display team.
AeroSuperBatics Limited, legally known as Aero-Super-Batics Limited, and commonly known merely as AeroSuperBatics, is a British civilian biplane multi-aircraft formation aerobatics and wing walking team. They currently perform as The AeroSuperBatics Wingwalkers, and were branded as 'The Flying Circus' in 2018. They were previously branded Breitling 'Swiss Chronographs' in accordance with their sponsorship agreement with the Swiss watch manufacturer Breitling. Prior to that, branding included Guinot 'Institut Paris', Colt Cars, St.Ivel 'Utterly Butterly', Cadbury's 'Crunchie', and Yugo Cars, according to their commercial sponsors at the time. Their display options currently consist of either a solo aircraft, or a two-ship formation pair, or a three-ship display, and previously included a four-ship formation, and during the 2008 display season, a five-ship formation. They are the world's only formation wingwalking team.
On 22 August 2015, a former military aircraft crashed onto a main road during an aerial display at the Shoreham Airshow at Shoreham Airport, England, killing 11 people and injuring 16 others. It was the deadliest air show accident in the United Kingdom since the 1952 Farnborough Airshow crash, which had killed 31 people.
Jimmy Marshall Franklin was an American aerobatic pilot. He performed at airshows, both solo and as part of teams, for over 38 years until his death at an airshow in Moose Jaw. Born and raised in Lovington, New Mexico, Franklin learned to fly at age 8 and bought his first airplane at 19 and flew his first airshow the same year.
Charles Thomas Coleman was an American aviator, aerospace engineer and airshow & test pilot. He worked as a design and performance engineer for several aircraft corporations such as McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, Bede Jet Corporation and Scaled Composites. Coleman was a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots SETP as an Associate Fellow, and served on the board of directors for the Mojave Air and Space Port. As a commercial, test, and instructor pilot, he logged more than 10,800 hours of flight time.
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