List of Air Show Accidents and Incidents - 1988

1988

• August 28 – Ramstein airshow disaster (Ramstein, Germany) – Three members of Italy's Frecce Tricolori Air Force Display Team flying Aermacchi MB-339's were involved in a mid-air collision. Three pilots, Lt. Col. Ivo Nutarelli, Lt. Col. Mario Naldini and Cap. Giorgio Alessio were killed, wreckage from the collision landed on the spectators, killing 67 people and seriously injuring 346.
• June 26 – Air France Flight 296 (Mulhouse, Alsace, France) – While performing a gear down low speed pass, a chartered Air France Airbus A320 lost altitude and crashed into a treeline. Three of the 136 persons aboard were killed.
• April 24 – (Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California) – Marine Corps Colonel Jerry Cadick, then commanding officer of MAG-11, was performing aerobatics before a crowd of 300,000 when he crashed his F/A-18 Hornet at the bottom of a loop that was too close to the ground. The aircraft was in a nose-high attitude, but still carrying too much energy toward the ground when it impacted at more than 300 mph (480 km/h). Col. Cadick was subjected to extremely high G forces that resulted in his face making contact with the control stick, sustaining serious injuries. He broke his arm, elbow and ribs, exploded a vertebra and collapsed a lung. Col. Cadick survived and retired from the Marine Corps. The F/A-18 remained largely intact but was beyond repair.