It does happen, and we are now in the beginning of Airshow season, so this is when it will occur. You can search on “Blue Angels crashes” or “Thunderbird Crashes” and see that it is far from rare.
These pilots are flying their equipment to the edge of the plane’s flight envelope, and there is little margin for error. Some is pilot error, some mechanical failure, and either can be overcome at cruise speed and altitude, but is deadly down low.
Budget reductions have resulted in fewer flying hours, even for the demonstration teams, and this leads to more mishaps, and clustering them together.
It happens
