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OverviewRamstein is a town in West Germany containing an American Air Force Base that was established after World War II and remains today. On August 28, 1988 an airshow was scheduled to occur in front of an audience of 300,000.
Tragic EventOne of the worst air show accidents occured this day at this base. The Italian Air Force display team was meant to go through a few formations to dazzle the crowd. The error occured in a formation called the "Piercing Heart" in which the display team formed a heart in the air while one lone jet was to pierce the heart in the direction of the audience.
A pilot error from the jet which was to pierce the heart caused the accident. It came in too fast, too soon, and too low (an altitude of less than 40 meters). The jet collided mid-air with two other jets, sending another jet crashing into an ice cream truck in the crowd where many were lined up. The tumbling aircraft spread aviation fluid into the crowd and resulting in a tremendous fire.
At the same the other damaged jet carried a distance to the runway in which the medical emergency evacuation helicopter was hit. The pilot was the only successful one to eject was the pilot who died when he plummeted to the runway without his parachute opening.
There are images provided by sources from wikipedia of
before the accident and
after the accident.The Tolls of the Accident67 spectators and 3 pilots were killed at the accident.
346 were seriously injured.
1,000 needed hospital attention.
17 (including children) died in the weeks after the accident.
Those that survived had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and fought suicidal tendencies. They were compensated with money and West Germany banned air shows for three years until strict regulations were put in place.
Relation to RammsteinRammstein essentially got their band name from the Ramstein tragedy. The additional "m" was intentional.
They have a song on the album
Herzeleid graphically describing the event, mostly focused on the crowd burning.
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