Many display aircraft were destroyed. Aviat Aircraft of Afton, Wyo., was especially hard hit. A new Husky on amphibious floats was tossed by the storm into several other display aircraft, causing severe damage.
Many display aircraft were destroyed. Aviat Aircraft of Afton, Wyo., was especially hard hit. A new Husky on amphibious floats was tossed by the storm into several other display aircraft, causing severe damage.
From the headline I suspected that there was a crash and that spectators were injured.
NOT BREAKING NEWS
From the SUN-N-Fun Facebook Page:
Many of you have heard about the weather we had at SUN ‘n FUN today. We know a lot of conflicting and confusing information was being thrown out, even some from normally reliable sources that turned out to be, fortunately, incorrect. We knew there was a lot of conjecture swirling around in addition to the wind and rain, and we didn’t want to add to the confusion by giving out bad or incomplete information, so we appreciate your patience! Here’s what we know:
We had a very brief but powerful storm cell sweep through our area earlier today. It got very dark, very windy, and very rainy in a very short amount of time. We cannot yet confirm that it was actually a tornado versus just a very severe thunderstorm. Either way, it was unpleasant.
The storm did cause damage to the show grounds, but no permanent structures collapsed. Reports of one of our hangers collapsing and trapping 70 people were incorrect. To our knowledge, no one was trapped or even seriously hurt at SUN ‘n FUN. A temporary office trailer at the airport, off SnF property was flipped over by the wind, and that is the “collapsed” structure being shown on some news sources. As far as we know, no one was in the trailer.
There was significant damage to several exhibitor tents and displays, and a number of aircraft were damaged, displaced from their tie-downs or flipped. We have no official count, but from what we saw as we left campus, the number is probably closer to the 40 that Bay News 9 reported, than the 200 that some others have posted on Facebook.
We once again want to thank everyone at SnF that helped in response to the rapidly unfolding storm. We also want to thank all of you who posted your thoughts and support here and on Twitter. Clean-up is now ongoing, and we plan to open the gates at 8am, though it may not be business as “usual” right away.
The forecast for the rest of the weekend is clear and sunny, and we will have an airshow tomorrow (as well as Saturday and Sunday). Due to the weather, neither the Blue Angels or the F-22 arrived today, but as far as we know, both plan to arrive tomorrow and perform.
We will give you more updates as we get them!
Incredibly misleading headline. There was a storm, weather damage, but certainly nothing along the implied lines of a an air show disaster, which would mean a plane in a crowd or something.
They did not have any tie downs?
Your title suggests a plane went down into the crowd ala Ramstein.
Glad to hear it was the weather.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaSYbSVE1oY&feature=feedu
AVWeb report. No serious injuries, minor injuries treated on-site. 40 Damaged or destroyed aircraft, exhibit damage.
Still, if that was my Husky laying in a crumpled ball I might consider this a major disaster.
Pinellas got hit hard too - both airports, cars, homes.
OH THE HUMANITY!
Oh wait...
No link - check
Made up headline - check
Vanity post - check
Must be breaking news.
Storms flip planes at Central Florida airshow
Six suffer minor injuries
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/polk/damage-at-sun-n-fun-03312011
“Deputies reported widespread minor damage as well as some “major property damage.””
Some friends and former customers of mine are down there. I hope Betty and Doug Hempstead of Fantasy Air are OK. Gone up in their neat little LSA out of Sanford-Lee County Airport several times.