Air show organizer reassures public on safety

Air shows in Canada have all the necessary rules in place to ensure safety, the executive director of Air Show Atlantic is saying, following two fatal accidents in Europe.

Over the weekend Air Show Atlantic wowed the crowds at the Summerside Airport with acrobatic aeronautic displays from the Snowbirds. There were also military CF-18s, biplanes, helicopters and military transport planes.

Our insurance rates are going down because we're so safe.- Colin Stevenson, Air Show Atlantic

But there were two airshow tragedies in Europe over the weekend: one in the UK where a jet slammed into a roadway killing at least seven, and an inflight collision in Switzerland that killed one.

Colin Stevenson, executive director of Air Show Atlantic, said Canadian airshows have had an outstanding safety record for decades.

"The rigid rules that we follow, between the Royal Canadian Air Force and Transport Canada, create a very safe environment," said Stevenson.

One of the rules, he explained, keeps pilots from performing aerobatic stunts above crowds. There's also consideration for the flight path an aircraft would be taking if it went out of control during a manoeuvre. 

"We have aerobatic boxes that are completely sterile, manoeuvre packages that are approved in advance by either Transport Canada or the air force. We're at the point where for the last 60 years we haven't had a fan killed by an aircraft incident at an air show anywhere in North America. Our insurance rates are going down because we're so safe."

Stevenson said he and the rest of Air Show Atlantic feel devastated as a result of the air show tragedies in Europe.