History of the Ramstein Flugtag 1988

The annual Ramstein AB Air Show, dubbed "Flugtag" (German for Air Day) was considered one of the biggest and most attended air shows in the European theatre. Aircraft from all areas of Europe were honored to be included in the event. It was no different for the 1988 Flugtag. The day consisted of booths offering food and snacks from the area groups as this was a huge fundraising opportunity.

People lined up very early in the day to get a good place to sit and lines coming into the base were very long as the cars were under additional scrutiny as was evident by the armed guards atop their humvees which stood guard at the gate. All the air bases were on a hightened alert due to recent Middle East concerns and after threats of retaliation for the 1988 USS Vincennes incident in which an Iranian jet was shot down killing all onboard.

There were about 300,000 people that ventured out August 28, 1988. The day began chilly and gloomy yet the sun determined to shine was visible by afternoon and the clouds disappeared to provide a bright blue background to the air events of the afternoon.

The crash occurred when jets from the Italian team known as the Frecce Tricolori ended their amazing air show. The team were in position to perform the "pierced heart" routine. The routine was their gift to their audience and shows their love for the crowd as was stated by the announcer. The teams of aircraft form a heart by flying up and away from each other meeting at the tip of the heart. One plane must fly through this formation which looks like the arrow that pierces the heart.
The lone aircraft tipped one of the planes as they passed close to the other. One of the planes crippled and ablaze careened into the specator section crashing into an ice cream truck surrounded by spectators. The other plane crashed on the flight line where the emergency team aboard a parked Black Hawk helicopter sat ready to evacuate in the event of an emergency. The pilot died a few weeks later of his injuries. The jet fuel ignited and many were caught unaware could not escape the flames. Emergency medical teams from nearby bases and German rescue teams were called and response was amost immediate. The injured were medivaced to many area hospitals and the base gym became the makeshift morgue. The Italian pilot was able to eject from the plane yet died of injuries as his parachute did not have time to open. After circling the crash site, the Italian team regrouped and departed to a nearby air base.