Hi Joanna,

Are you sure you were reading my blog entry?
I think you missed the context of my comment with respect to the Snowbirds.
I was responding to Mr. Lipton's unqualified and incorrect statements about the Air Traffic Controllers at the TCCA.
The Snowbird pilots are responsible for avoiding each other visually - Air Traffic Control does not play a role in keeping them apart from one another.
I believe that is all I said.

In fact, I don't enjoy air shows and try to take my vacation during the CNE airshow each summer so that I can avoid having to deal with them.

Since you took the time to do some research, let's examine your comments further.

I completely AGREE with you that stunts are dangerous and have already stated that they should be confined to appropriate areas - i.e. CNE airshow = over Lake Ontario etc.

For relevance - the Red Bull flight was a stunt but it was NOT a formation flight like the Snowbirds who operate a few feet from each other for extended periods of time.

I'm not sure what good a list of crashes is (other than to make people nervous) without context or relevance. Many of these incidents weren't even part of an airshow and could happen to any aircraft at any time. (engine failures etc...)

If you require any further clarification of my position, please don't hesitate to ask.

Take Care!
Joe