Anatomy of Air Show Accidents to All SAC Card Holders

Thanks to generous grants from the Patty Wagstaff Aviation Foundation and Kimmel Aviation Insurance, a copy of the 676-page reference book, Anatomy of Air Show Accidents, has been shipped to every current holder of an FAA- or Transport Canada-issued Statement of Aerobatic Competency. The product of decades of work by Major General Des Barker (South African Air Force, retired), the book includes extensive analysis of the causes of air show accidents and a short summary of nearly 1,400 air show accidents between 1908 and 2018.

Before he was killed in a non-air show aviation accident in March of 2021, General Barker expressed an interest in putting a copy of the book in the hands of every active air show pilot in the world. He believed that, if significant segments of air show pilots read the book, it had the power to reduce the worldwide air show accident rate. And veteran air show pilots who have read the book have agreed. It is, by a wide margin, the most exhaustively researched and deeply analytical book ever to be published on the topic of air show accidents and how to stop them. It is the closest thing our industry has to required reading for any person who flies air show aerobatics on even an occasional basis.

Air Show Hall of Fame member Patty Wagstaff believes so much in the power of the material presented by Des Barker that she made a significant contribution through her foundation to help print and mail several hundred copies of the book to SAC card holders. Together with Kimmel Aviation Insurance, the books have been produced and distributed to more than 300 pilots at no cost. Those books are on their way to pilots now and should arrive sometime in November.

ICAS members who do not hold current SAC cards, but would like to purchase a copy of the book can do so by clicking here(https://airshows.aero/ViewDoc/4315), completing the order form and returning it to icas@airshows.aero.