Flugschau-Katastrophe in Ramstein 1988

Ramstein Air Show Disaster 1988 Spectators, police, firefighters, and paramedics recount their experiences. Based on eyewitness accounts and film footage from victims and the criminal investigation department, the events at Ramstein and their aftermath are described. The Ramstein air show disaster on August 28, 1988, was an aircraft catastrophe during a military air show at Ramstein Air Base, resulting in 70 fatalities and approximately 1,000 injuries. Triggered by the collision of several aerobatic aircraft, one of the planes crashed in front of the spectators and slid, engulfed in flames, into the crowd. This event is among the most devastating disasters of its kind and had far-reaching consequences for the organization of emergency rescue services, victim and rescue aftercare, and the organization of air shows in Germany. During the 1988 Ramstein Air Show at the US airbase in Ramstein-Miesenbach near Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, three military aircraft collided shortly before the end of the event during a complex maneuver by the Italian aerobatic team "Frecce Tricolori." The collision occurred at an altitude of approximately 50 meters and about 300 meters in front of the spectators. One aircraft, now in flames, crashed into the crowd. During the second maneuver—the "pierced heart"—three of the ten aircraft involved collided. One of them crashed directly in front of the spectators.