It is 3:40 in the afternoon on Aug. 28, 1988. Ten brightly-painted jets swoop in a neat v-formation over Ramstein air base, a major U.S. military installation in West Germany. Below, 350,000 spectators cheer at the final act of the Flugtag '88 air show as they scoop up ice cream and devour hamburgers from dozens of food trucks and outdoor grills.
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In 1988, a Horrific Crash Changed Air Shows Forever
70 people died when an aerobatic routine went wrong
WIB AIRWIB HISTORY September 25, 2017 Sebastien Roblin
Ramstein air disaster1
It is 3:40 in the afternoon on Aug. 28, 1988. Ten brightly-painted jets swoop in a neat v-formation over Ramstein air base, a major U.S. military installation in West Germany. Below, 350,000 spectators cheer at the final act of the Flugtag '88 air show as they scoop up ice cream and devour hamburgers from dozens of food trucks and outdoor grills.
The crowd is a mix of West German civilians and personnel and their family members from the military base.
The fliers belong to the Frecce Tricolori — “Tricolor Arrows” — the elite aerobatics team of the Italian air force that formed back in 1960. They are flying Machhi MB-339As — small, single-engine jet trainers painted with green, white and red stripes over a dark blue background.
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