Tragedy in Reno

I have always had a problem with air shows.  Oh, I like airplanes well enough (except when I am white knuckling my way through turbulence), and I think some of the old prop driven aircraft are amazing.  But I have issues when planes traveling hundreds of miles per hour are flashing by grandstands of people.  It is a recipe for disaster, and that recipe was served up in Reno last week.

Granted, accidents do happen.  People are killed on highways every day.  People slip and fall in their homes.  But in general, society takes certain precautions to try to prevent such accidents.  We have laws for seat belt use and for speed limits.  We put rails on stairways and tell our kids not to run with scissors.  And yet, we place grandstands alongside runways as modified aircraft go streaking by overhead, passing within feet of each other and the ground.  Then we stare in shock as accident after accident takes place.

How about we use some common sense when it comes to air shows.  You want to have air shows?  Fine. Have them.  Just keep them away from populated areas and make sure that the grandstands are quite a distance away from where the event is taking place.  Trust me, the planes are in the sky, so people will be able to see them.

A number of people are dead in Reno, Nevada.  I have friends in Reno, and am very glad that none of them were there that day watching this tragedy.  I am sad, however, to think that this terrible event could have been averted; if only common sense ruled.