Incident Overview
On 28 August 1988, three aircraft of the Italian Air Force display team collided during the Flugtag '88 airshow at USAF Ramstein Air Base near Kaiserslautern, West Germany. The aircraft crashed to the ground in front of a crowd of approximately 30,000 people.
Casualties and Injuries
The collision and subsequent explosion and fire caused 70 fatalities among spectators. Additionally, 346 spectators sustained serious injuries, and hundreds more reported minor injuries.
Historical Context
At the time, this was the deadliest air show accident in history. It held that record until a 2002 crash at the Sknyliv air show in Ukraine, which resulted in 77 fatalities.