Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Divisions arise over the safety, necessity of air shows

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Monday, March 20, 2000

Divisions arise over the safety, necessity of air shows
While some enjoy the shows and accept their risks, others cannot stomach the showy spectacle or its expense
By Dan Parker and Mary Lee Grant
Caller-Times

George Gongora/Caller-Times

Blue Angels fly away from a canceled air show at Naval Air Station Kingsville about two hours after an F-16 jet crashed before spectators Sunday.

Air shows stir patriotism, demonstrate the nation's technology and provide fun for families, but after a fatal crash of an Air Force F-16 Falcon Sunday in front of thousands of spectators, some question their safety and necessity.
   Others say the shows should continue.
   Dick Messbarger, executive director of the Greater Kingsville Economic Development Council, said air shows should continue largely because they are such good recruiting tools at a time when the military is having a hard time recruiting high school and college students.
   "It's because the shows are so exciting," said Messbarger, who also is a member of the Naval Air Station Kingsville Task Force. "You see the creme de la creme. It's kind of a motivation: If you work hard, keep your nose clean and stay on track, you too could become a Blue Angel."
   Effect of Sunday's crash
   Sunday's crash at Naval Air Station Kingsville was of an F-16 from the 9th Air Force's 78th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter, S.C.
   The accident, which occurred at about 12:45 p.m., canceled the remainder of the two-day air show, which began Saturday.
   But Master Chief Jim Rostohar, public affairs officer for NAS Kingsville, said he doubted the accident would have much of an effect on future shows."Hopefully this will not have an impact on our desire and ability to put on the show."
   More than 100 aviation incidents linked to military air shows have occurred since 1972, according to The Orange County Register.
   Forty-two were major accidents that combined killed at least 100 people, including at least six civilians, the paper reported in a Nov. 7, 1999 article.
   'This was his time'
   Kingsville retiree Red Klassen, who has been attending air shows in Kingsville for decades, said he doesn't think the accident should shut the show down.
   "It is a wonderful opportunity for people to get to see the Blue Angels,'' he said.
   "Usually these things are attributable to human error. It is the kind of thing you don't get a second chance about, just like crossing the freeway. It makes me sad, but I don't think they should quit having the show.
   "But this is a tradition, like the (Texas) A&M bonfire," he said. "Sometimes, tragic things happen.''
   Mike Sahtout, a Kingsville resident who has a son-in-law in the Navy, said that he thinks the shows should continue.
   "They show that the Navy can be fun as well as work, and a lot of people, including me, enjoy seeing them,'' Sahtout said.
   "None of us knows the time or the way in which we will die,'' Sahtout said. "For this man, this was his time.''
   But Kingsville resident Richard Hartwig, a professor of political science at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, said that the air shows are too dangerous.
   "There have been a lot of accidents over the last few years," said Hartwig, who added that the cost of putting on such a show also is expensive.
   Allowing military pilots to do stunts at air shows is a bad idea because it's needlessly dangerous, said Courtney Gallegos, a 19-year-old Kingsville homemaker who didn't attend this weekend's air show.
   Gallegos said putting on shows to display military aircraft for the public is a good idea, but she thinks the planes should be kept on the ground.
   "I think it's horrible," Gallegos said. "That's a bad way to go. He's out there having to fight for his life, and he dies while he's having to show off."
   Ben Esquivel, a 40-year-old Corpus Christi resident who witnessed the crash Sunday, said air shows should continue.
   "I think people have a right to see the equipment they pay for and see it in action and for children to see it," said Esquivel, manager of the cardiopulmonary department at the trauma center at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial.
   "I think it instills a sense of patriotism to see these awesome machines, these weapons that take care of you."




Staff writers Michael Hines and Darren Barbee contributed to this report. Staff writers Dan Parker and Mary Lee Grant can be reached at 886-3683 or by e-mail at parkerd@caller.com and grantm@caller.com

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