After seeing the recent crash in Toronto on the news I had a flashback to when I was a kid and saw a terrible crash at the 1993
El Toro Air Show .. the pilot hit the ground a few hundred yards from where I was sitting, the instant fire ball was as intense as this last one. It was actually terrifying, and even worse, we all knew that a man had just died in front of our eyes.. it was pretty shocking experience, especially since the show went on, even at the cost of a man's life! Air Shows are crazy shit, and plane crashes are even crazier shit! Have you ever seen one in person before? What were your thoughts and reactions?
Captain Brian Bews parachutes to the ground as his CF-18 crashes and burns in the background before an Albertan air show.
Photograph by: Kurt's Kustom Photography, Postmedia News
OTTAWA — The CF-18 Hornet demonstration team has cancelled all of its scheduled appearances at upcoming air shows across North America, including Abbotsford, after its sole demo pilot narrowly escaped death last week when his jet crashed and burned in Alberta.
The Canadian Forces team will no longer preform six shows in Canada and two in the United States, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced Friday.
"It is unfortunate we will not be able to finish the season," acting commander Brig.-Gen. Richard Foster said in a statement. "But we simply cannot and will not rush the preparation of another demo pilot."
Capt. Brian Bews, a pilot based at 3 Wing Bagotville, Que., suffered compression fractures in three vertebrae after ejecting from the CF-18 Hornet before it crashed July 23 during a training run for the Alberta International Airshow in Lethbridge.
He is still recovering from the injuries and is not expected to fly for several months, NORAD spokeswoman Cpt. Holly Brown said. An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
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