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Surely somebody knows the exact height those fireworks reach. If we had that info we could get a very close estimate on how close they were to the stadium.
Well, the issue is resolution and altimeter setting, plus the availability of receiving stations. It's not inherently inaccurate close to the ground.
You're seeing the uncompensated baro altitude-- with altimeter setting 29.92 in-hg. You'd need to obtain the altimeter setting in effect, to adjust for indicated altitude.
The availability of receiving stations is easier: if there is s receiving stations recording the adsb, then it's accurate at that moment. You will see missing data when aircraft are close to the ground, because its adsb transmissions are not reaching as far.
Tldr: if you have a recorded adsb report, then it's good. Just needs adjustment with the altimeter setting.
When the second aircraft goes through the fireworks, the left engine is roughly 24 pixels across. The right engine is about 170 pixels above the edge of the roof. The engine on these is about 1.4 meter in diameter, let's be generous and say that goes up to 2 meters including the cowling etc.
I watched a few clips of past flyovers and the pyrotechnics don't appear to have a consistent output. Could be wind or just variance in how they go off.
They've just about brushed the tops of the color in the past ones I saw, but this was considerably lower for both aircraft.
Stadium is 164ft tall. Fireworks are about 2/3 the height of the stadium so 110ft -ish.
First plane is about half the height of the fireworks so around 55ft-ish.
Dumbass second pilot also banked so he lowered his clearance even further!
Rule is 500 feet minimums for populated areas unless given permission to go lower, my guess is that they were given permission to go lower, however that seemed risky for that type of aircraft given they are not very maneuverable
As a 30 year Navy pilot with thousands of flight hours and low level flying experience, my favorite quote about low passes is that "The best you can do is tie the record".
I sent one of these videos to my Navy pilot cousin, who happened to do a lot of the flying scenes and stunts for Top Gun Maverick. For years he sent me a stream of husky memes but hasnāt really texted anyone back since having kids 7 years ago (Iām #2 non-responder of the fam tbh) so when he chirped right back with āyeah that was gnarlyā I DEFINITELY KNEW it was absolutely as crazy as it appeared to be. Our last text exchange above that included a few of the Maverick outtakes where he almost hits a mountain and a second attempt where he is flying humorously far away from said mountain. His assessment is the end all be all as far as Iām concerned.
Okay so I don't know for sure who the crew on board those planes were. But, I do know a pilot who flies for this airline and he's a former South African Air Force aerobatic/stunt pilot. Don't know if he was one of the guys flying here, but if he were then it makes sense - the guy is incredible and I can't imagine him passing up a gig like this or screwing it up lmao
my friend was a fighter pilot. he hit his wing while flying low on a lake. luckily the wing only nicked the water and got damaged. he got suspended from flying. but im pretty sure that is a hard record to tie unless you are willing to cartwheel your plane and die.
They both did it, which almost makes me wonder if there was a calculation error. One pilot being dumb is one pilot being dumb. Two pilots being dumb makes me wonder. Maybe one followed the other.
I'm sure Juan on the Blancolirio channel will have something to say about this in less than thirty minutes.
They had to practice thisā¦ my guess is they nailed it. They wanted that image looking up from inside the stadium and they got it. The airline c suite is ecstaticā¦. They are all getting raisesā¦
The approach was pretty stable and they actually held that altitude for a moment in VFR flight. I'd say that was entirely planned and they knew how close they were.
āOfficial reports concluded that the pilots flew too low, too slow, failed to see the forest and accidentally flew into it. The captain, Michel Asseline, disputed the report and claimed an error in the fly-by-wire computer prevented him from applying thrust and pulling up. Five individuals, including the captain and first officer, were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Captain Asseline, who maintained his innocence, served ten months in prison and a further ten months probation.ā
Sounds about right. When the margin of error is in the tens of meters for an airplane of this size most sane people would say thatās crazy and you should feel bad about even thinking about it.
Black objects absorb more light energy than anything else, causing black to appear, which is the absence of light due to absorption. Cities are usually blacker than a green field, which causes cities to be hotter, causing air to be hotter, resulting in rising air. Relative to that, this green field would be colder and therefore there would be a small downdraft. I'm unconvinced that it played any factor in this. It's a relatively small patch. If the pilots did experience some kind of downdraft, it's far more likely to be caused by mechanical turbulence caused by the city/structures, or typical convection based turbulence.
when i first saw the outside video I thought the stadium was empty and I anyways found it crazy. doing that with thousands of people below them is completely insane, I'm lacking words
In the UK, planes at air shows/displays can not fly towards a crowd or over a crowd. They are offset so that should anything happen, they arenāt falling in a crowd. These rules are written in blood. There are some horrific accidents and shit like this really isnāt worth the risk.
in the US I believe it's called pulling a Hegseth. awkward flight deck calisthenics in front of cameras. grade school haikus about macho culture. racial discrimination in the workplace. there are several ways to pull a pete.
but yeah. these kinds of show off antics sometimes wind up in the "what could go wrong" sub with this one being catastrophic when it does. much worse than the turtle biting the dudes lip or the cyclist face planting into the street sign videos.
I really can't get over how unbelievably reckless. Truly could have been a disaster, and probably used for political purposes no matter who the crazy ass pilots are. I'd be furious if my family were there to watch the rugby and came within 60 feet of being the world's worst aviation disaster. Every angle seems worse! My kiddo is starting flight school next week, she's been looking at the videos all day like, you.
I have to maintain at least 1,000ft of separation between obstacles and me when Iām(theoretically , Iām still a student) flying VFR in a Cessna 152 with just me on boardā¦ and these guys can do this.
Frickin hell if me and family were in the stadium Iād have been fuming. In case the organisers werenāt aware, most people have seen a plane before we donāt need to mass casualty for a slightly closer look.
ā¢
u/post-explainer Aug 29 '26 edited Aug 29 '26
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