The andsSIRIPESVol.47, No. 133

AUTHORIZED UNOFFICIAL PUBLICATION FOR THE U.S. ARMED FORCES

Monday, August 29, 1988 * * as< DOM/«,nd Sunday 1 F 8693 A

Dozens die in collisionof 3 planes at air show

By DEEDEE ARRINGTON DOKEKaiserslautern bureau

RAMSTEIN AB, West Germany -—AnItalian air force jet crashed in a ball of fireinto spectators at an annual air show Sun-day after colliding head on with two otherlow-flying jets, killing at least 46.

More than 100 people were injured inthe fiery crash, which also killed thethree pilots of the two-seat AermacchiMB-339A fighters.

The accident occurred about 3:35p.m., shortly after the 10-plane ItalianFrecce Tricolor! aerial demonstrationteam began its performance. A planeclipped two others flying in close forma-tion toward it, sending the two crashingonto a runway.

The lone plane came at the crowd taildown, crashing in flames into hundreds ofthe estimated 300,000 at the air show. Con-cession stands and several vehicles, includ-ing a German police car, burst into flames.

In the moments after the crash, peoplewere screaming and running, some ofthem with their clothes on fire. Flamesfrom the explosion burned a number ofspectators, while others were hit withparts from the exploding planes.

"I felt the heat of it," said Staff Set.John Flanagan of Wiesbaden. "I saw theguy coming right at us. I was out therewith my family — my wife and two kids.I just pulled my kids and ran.

"We were lucky. If we had been 100Continued on Page 28

S&S: Dave Didio

Rescue workers dash with one of the spectators seriously injured after the collision of 3 jet fighters Sunday at Ramstein AB.

'Everything happened so fast;all I saw was a ball of flame'

By The Stars and StripesRAMSTEIN AB, West Germany — Witnesses of

Sunday's fiery crash of three Italian air force planesdescribed a horrific tableau of mangled bodies, flyingdebris and a wave of burning jet fuel as one of theplanes crashed into the crowd of spectators.

Vic Thompson, an Air Force enlisted man with the377th Civil Engr Sq at Ramstein, said five of theplanes flew one way, "four flew another way and onejust sort of took off."

"Then everything happened so fast; all I saw was aball of flame. I couldn't believe it was a crash at first. Ithought it was just some kind of special effect."

Staff Sgt. John Flanagan watched from about 200feet away with his wife and young children as the soloplane that apparently caused the accident surged noseup toward the crowd before plunging behind a row ofconcession tents in a ball of flame and black smoke.

"There was this incredible silence," the Wiesbaden ABairman said of the scenejust after the crash. "It was likethe crowd was in shock. There was just total silence. Thenthere was a second muffled explosion and more fire, andthat's when people started running, screaming."

Many of the injured apparently were hurt when theplane's fuel tanks exploded, sending a spray of fire thattorched concession tents and set spectators ablaze.

"I saw this little boy iust standing there. His hairwas all singed and the skin was coming off his face.And he was. just standing there, looking up at me,"

Flanagan said."Nobody stopped to help him. They were running.

We stopped the police, and the police picked him up."Three German men, also badly burned, stood quiet-

ly near the boy, apparently in shock, he said.Stars and Stripes reporter DeeDee Arlington Doke

described the wounded as "horribly injured.""Some were missing skin on their arms. The sun had

come out, and there were a lot of people who didn'thave their shirts on. A lot had black burns, like theirskin was burned black."

She said that, after the crash, "people started crying andscreaming. The ones who were stopped were hugging eachother and crying like they were saying, 'What are we goingto do?' The ones who were running were screaming."

"There were people lying on the ground," said anAir Force enlisted man at the scene. "There were peo-ple with no skin, no insides. It was bad."

Dr. Eugene Innocenti, a spectator from Florence,Italy, said most people "stood there sort of dazed."

"When the tanks exploded, then they ran away.They didn't know what the hell was going on. I wassort of dazed myself," he said.

Witnesses said nine of the planes on the demonstra-tion team were completing a heart-shaped maneuverwhen the team's 10th plane flew toward the point ofthe heart.

"It looked like he dipped, and then tried to correctSee 'FLAME' on Page 28 Members of a family comfort each other after the crash.

Monday, August 29, 1988 THE STARS AND STRIPES ** Page 3

Rescue workers survey a burned-out car and other signs of destruction at the site where flaming jet fuel and debris blasted into a crowd of spectators at Ramstein AB.S&S: Dave Didio

115 injured in crashat Ramstein air showtreated at hospitals

By The Stars and StripesRAMSTEIN AB, West Germany —Ci-

vilian and military hospitals as far away asFrankfurt were treating more than 115 peo-ple Sunday, many with serious burns suf-fered when an Italian jet crashed into acrowd of spectators and exploded.

The most seriously injured were takento the emergency hospital in Ludwigshaf-en, about 30 miles east of the large airbase that was hosting its annual openhouse and air show.

A hospital spokesman said the injuredwere coming in too fast to count, addingthat it would take hours to get exactnumbers and nationalities.

At Landstuhl Army Regional MedicalCenter, a triage center was set up in thehospital's main entrance. The first of 115injured arrived at 4 p.m. Some of theinjured later were tranferred to civilianhospitals in Homberg, Kaiserslautern,Baumholder, Ludwigshafen and Ko-blenz.

Landstuhl began recalling off-dutypersonnel, who were assisted by Germanarmy members and Red Cross workers.

An information center for familieswas set up in a Landstuhl radiology wait-ing room, and officials established spe-cial telephone numbers for informationregarding the injured. The numbers areETS 486-7115 or 8127 and German ci-vilian 06371-86-7115 or 8127.

Hospital officials confirmed a total of46 dead in the catastrophe. The Asso-ciated Press quoted a German televisionnetwork as saying, "For about 60 of theinjured, it's questionable whether theywill survive their injuries."

Kaiserslautern's City Hospital was

treating about 50 German and Americanadults and children, with additional vic-tims being brought in through the eve-ning. Injuries ranged from cuts and bro-ken limbs to severe burns. Several of theinjured were in critical condition.

Ludwigshafen's City Hospital receivedat least 10 Germans and Americans, al-most all with burns and some in seriouscondition.

The Mannheim Klinikum, that city'smain hospital, received four badlyburned adults and two children. The hos-pital was not immediately able to identi-fy any of the injured or give their nation-alities. Both children and three of theadults had what the hospital described aslife-threatening injuries.

The Kussel City Hospital, about 15miles from the crash site, received eightGermans with minor injuries. One manwas treated for minor cuts and released.The others were treated for minor burns,cuts and scrapes and were expected to bekept at least overnight, a hospital spokes-man said.

At Frankfurt Army Regional MedicalCenter, U.S. Army emergency medicalhelicopters flew in four injured, none ofthem Americans.

Three Germans, one a 16-year-oldboy, were treated for third-degree burnsand sent to other clinics. A Britishwoman was in fair condition with sec-ond-degree burns on her hands and face,said Bill Swisher, hospital spokesman.

UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fromthe 421st Air Ambulance Bn continuedflying the injured after dark, when Ger-man emergency aircraft, which cannotfly at night, had to stop, Swisher said.

(Contributing to this report: staff writers Janet D'Agosti-no In Landstuhl, Daryl Green In Kaiserslautern, CrystalLaureano and Anita Qosch in Darmstadt.)

The Italian air force acrobatic team Frecce Tricolor! performsthe crowd at Ramstein AB just before the disastrous three-plane

S&S: Dave Didio

the last maneuver overcollision.

Page 28 THE STARS AND STRIPES Monday, August 29,1988

Dozens killed in crash at air showFrom Page 1

meters more down, we would havebeen burned."

Jim Beichler, a University of Mary-land teacher, said people next to himhad said jokingly: "He's going to hit.He's not going to make it."

"Then there was a silence," Beichlersaid. "The plane blew up, and peoplestarted running. One guy was on fire.Other people were wrapped up inbarbed wire. There were small fires allaround me."

Farther away, there was shocked si-lence throughout the crowd, then cry-ing.

Shortly after the crash, the sound ofsirens filled the air. Air Force busesand "anything with wheels" werepressed into service as ambulances.

Emergency first aid was adminis-tered in the area. Helicopters carriedthe more seriously injured to the near-by Landstuhl Army Regional MedicalCenter.

"It's a mess here," Landstuhlspokeswoman Marie Shaw said."We've got Germans coming here,Americans going to German hospitals,planes flying in, and my son was outthere. I don't know how many peoplewere hurt, but it's a lot."

A morgue was set up at theRamstein southside clinic, while in-jured also were taken to the gym atLandstuhl and German hospitalsthroughout the Kaiserslautern area.

Authorities put out an appeal forblood donors, and, within the firsthours, more than 600 people had ar-rived. Air Force officials opened aninformation center at the Falcon Thea-ter to help people locate missing fami-ly members.

About 75 people, many looking tiredand worried, quietly waited for wordabout 8 p.m.

"Everyone's in shock," said VirginiaHoward of Landstuhl, a volunteer atthe theater. "People don't know whatthey're saying. They're just looking."

In a press conference, Kaiserslau-tern County Commissioner RudolfTartter initially put the number ofdead at 31, but Air Force officials esti-mated between 30 and 40. Severalhours later, Landstuhl's Shaw said 43people were dead at Ramstein andthree were dead at Landstuhl.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Lawrence E.Boese, commander of the 316th AirDiv at Ramstein, called the collision"a tragic accident."

"It is our opinion that every possi-ble precaution was taken," Boese said,calling the Italian team of the^'highestquality and caliber."

File photos show the three Italian pilots killed. From left, Lt Col. Mario Naldini, Lt. Col. Ivo Nutarelli and Capt Giorgio Alessio.

He estimated the accident occurredat the show center, 1,500 feet fromspectators. Eyewitnesses said the colli-sion occurred as close as 120 feetabove the ground.

Access to the base was immediatelycut off by German police, who directedtraffic away. Spectators trying to leavethe base were trapped in a 2'/2-hourtraffic jam as authorities cleared theway for emergency vehicles.

The remaining seven Italian planes,which had been emitting smoke in thered, green and white colors of theirnation's flag before the collision, land-ed at nearby Sembach AB.

"This accident is too large for us tounderstand ... and we have to learnconsequences for it," said Rudi Geil,minister of the interior for the state ofRheinland-Pfalz.

"I cannot see how we can take re-sponsibility for holding such an eventagain," said Geil, who described him-self as "in great despair."

Representatives of the Social Demo-cratic and Free Democratic politicalparties had asked the state governmentto cancel the event, citing potentialdangers of flying demonstrations.

But the Rheinland-Pfalz state gov-ernment said Aug. 5 that the U.S. AirForce has operated the air show under

regulations outlined by the Germangovernment, and there was no reasonto cancel the show.

Immediately after the accident,West German Defense Minister Ru-pert Scholz, who had defended theshows, announced cancellation of aGerman air force air show scheduledfor Sept. 25.

The Frecce Tricolor! were the lastshow of the day, scheduled for 3:40p.m., following flying demonstrationsby U.S. aircraft from Ramstein, Hahnand Bitburg air bases, West Germany,and RAF Bentwaters, England. Alsoperforming were military planes fromGermany, France, the Netherlands andPortugal. The air show began at 12:30p.m.

The three Italian pilots killed Sun-day were identified as Lt. Col. MarioNaldini, 41; Lt. Col. Ivo Nutarelli, 38;and Capt. Giorgio Alessio, 31.

In Rome, Italian Premier CiriacoDeMita expressed the profound sor-row of his government at what hecalled the "terrible disaster" atRamstein.

The Ramstein air show includedabout 20 airplanes on display. Theywere to fly out as scheduled Monday,but base officials did not know whenregular flying would resume.

In another air accident Sunday, thisone in Kleine Brogel, Belgium, a Finn-ish military training aircraft spun intoan uncontrolled dive and crashed dur-ing an air show at a Belgian air forcebase, killing the pilot, wire services re-ported.

Military officials said the pilot, AriPiippo, 44, of the Finnish air stuntteam, was believed killed instantlywhen his Finnish-made propeller-driv-en Valmet aircraft crashed into ameadow outside the base northeast ofBrussels.

There were no other casualties, andthe area was closed off for an officialinvestigation.

On Aug. 7, a Belgian pilot died whenhis Mirage 5 jet fighter crashed at anair show, also organized by the Belgianair force, at Leopoldsburg, seven mileswest of Kleine Brogel.

In April, May and June, 19 militaryaircraft of the United States, Britain,France and Germany crashed in WestGermany, prompting calls for an endto low flying and the grounding ofsome planes. Five U.S. Air Force F-16shave crashed this year in v rmany.

(Contributing to this report: staff writer Daryl Green inKaiserslautern.)

'FLAME'From Page 1

and swung up and hit the other twoplanes," one witness said.

The solo plane, spewing fire and itsnose gear missing, then lurched toward

the crowd before plummeting, the wit-ness said.

"There was a cotton puff of flame,voluminous," Doke said, "then this in-credible black smoke."

The scene after the crash "lookedlike a tornado had blown through," awitness said. "There was debris every-where. Paper cups, Coke bottles. All

kinds of paper."Near what remained of the conces-

sion tents, a blackened van and aburned-out German police car stoodnear an array of mangled bicycles, ap-parently thrown to the ground as theirowners ran.

(Contributing to this report: Dave Walczak at RamsteinAB and J.L. Kominicki in Darmstadt.)

G/ sfabbecf as 1,500 rock fans take fo streetsBy ANITA GOSCH

Staff writerSCHWEINFURT, West Germany — An Amer-

ican soldier was seriously injured Friday nightwhen a crowd of some 1,500 rock fans took to thestreets of Schweinfurt in anticipation of Sat-urday's Monsters of Rock festival.

Police spokesman Karl-Heinz Kno'chel saidSunday that Pvt. Michael Robinson, 19, wasstabbed in the left side of his chest by an unknownassailant. Robinson, of B Co, 123rd Signal Bn inWiirzburg, was taken to a local hospital, thentransferred to a U.S. military hospital. His condi-tion was considered serious but stable.

Kno'chel said that reports in German media ofmassive riots Friday night in Schweinfurt were

exaggerated.He said that, considering the number of people

expected to attend the Saturday festival, thingscould have been worse.

"There was something going on, but it wasn't asbad as described," he said.

He said some 1,500 youths, many intoxicated,took to the streets around 11 p.m. and attacked"two or three" pedestrians, smashed some carsand windows and left the downtown area litteredwith debris and broken glass.

Kno'chel said 35 people were taken into custodybefore the ruckus ended about 4 a.m. He said 400to 600 police had been called in and were assistedby 47 military police.

Kno'chel said things were much quieter Sat-urday evening after the festival ended about 9:45p.m. He said 43 people were taken into custodyand released.

Kno'chel said weekend incidents requiring po-lice action totaled 315, and there were 587 calls tothe Red Cross, mainly for drunkenness and prob-lems suffered by the fans in the stadium.

More than 38,000 rock music fans attended theMonsters of Rock festival, which included suchacts as Iron Maiden, Kiss and David Lee Roth.

According to the Associated Press, on Aug. 20two young men were trampled to death and" twowere seriously injured when a large wall with avideo screen collapsed during a Monsters of Rockfestival in Castle Donington, England.