Bonn Suspends Aerobatics at Military Shows

Defense Minister Rupert Scholz on Monday ordered all aerobatic flying at West German military air shows suspended as a result of the crash Sunday of an Italian stunt flying team that killed more than 40 people and injured several hundred.

Scholz and U.S. Ambassador Richard R. Burt announced the cancellation of two military air displays scheduled for next month, one at the U.S. air base at Bitburg and the other at Lechberg in Bavaria.

But Ambassador Burt, who visited a U.S. military hospital near the huge U.S. air base here and sent condolences to families of the victims of Sunday’s disaster, refused to rule out stunt flying at future American events in West Germany.

“We are against a blanket air show ban,” he said.

Memorial Service Today

Scholz and Burt said there will be a memorial service today to honor the dead and that there will be no military flights over West Germany during the day. The victims were mostly West German and American spectators, along with the three Italian pilots involved in the collision.

Italian air force investigators arrived Monday to investigate the incident, but many observers said there seemed little question about who was responsible, particularly after looking at film made by television crews.

It appeared that the flight leader misjudged his position and slammed into the other two planes directly in front of the viewing area.

Two planes hurtled to the ground, exploding on the far side of the field, and the third roared on toward the crowd, crashing and spewing debris and blazing fuel in a fireball that enveloped many onlookers.

‘Missing Skin’

“Some were missing skin on their arms,” said DeeDee Arrington Doke, a reporter for the unofficial U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes, who was at the scene. “The sun had come out, and there were a lot of people who didn’t have their shirts on. A lot had black burns.”

John Flanagan, an Air Force sergeant, told Stars and Stripes: “I saw this little boy just standing there. His hair was all singed and the skin was coming off his face. And he was just standing there, looking up at me.

“Nobody stopped to help him. They were running. We stopped the police and the police picked him up.”

The victims were taken to 21 hospitals in the area. Col. Franklin R. Smith, deputy commander of the Landstuhl U.S. military hospital near here, said the death toll stood at 42 and that 150 people were hospitalized with severe burns. He said hundreds of others had been treated and released.

Varied Figures Given

The U.S. military’s AFN radio network continued to report 46 fatalities with about 500 people injured, while West German officials put the death count at 45. There was no explanation for the discrepancy.

Sgt. Eddie Lee, a spokesman for Ramstein, said officials were having trouble identifying the dead and a list of victims would not be released until today.

Dr. William Flannery, a U.S. military doctor supervising treatment, told a news conference at Landstuhl that “the hardest part” was calming relatives of the many children killed or injured.

Scholz and Burt said there was no connection between the crash at the air show and a growing controversy in West Germany over low-flying military aircraft taking part in North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises.

Gen. John Galvin, the NATO supreme commander, who also visited victims here Monday, said he was concerned about West German criticism of the low-level flights.

“We are trying to keep the minimum level of training . . . but not past the point that the people will not tolerate,” he said.

Objections to Flying

Many groups in West Germany object to stunt flying at air shows, citing what they describe as excessive noise levels and a danger to the populace.

The government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl is sensitive to this issue, and Galvin said that Air Force commanders are equally sensitive. He said he is trying to find a compromise solution.

Although the West German government has now ordered its military pilots to restrict themselves, U.S. officials--after a day of conferring with their West German colleagues--seemed reluctant to issue any sweeping order.

As for canceling stunt flying at future air shows, Burt said, “That is an issue that has not been resolved yet. That is something we are going to have to talk about.”

Gen. William L. Kirk, commander of U.S. air forces in Europe, who appeared with Burt and Galvin at a news conference, said that aerobatic displays are a way to show the populace “the capability of equipment flown” and the “high degree of training” of the pilots.

Not a ‘Circus’

He denied that it constitutes “a stunt, a circus.” Instead, he said, it is an “exhibit of capable machinery and the man who flies it.”

He said this sort of flying has “a long, long tradition,” although he conceded that it has a “crowd-pleasing aspect” that “leads toward recruiting.”

Kirk said he did not know whether next year’s scheduled “Flight Day” at Ramstein, headquarters of the U.S. Air Force in Europe, would be canceled. But Galvin said: “We do not do things against the will of the German population. We are partners here and allies.”