VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — While the fatal crash of Rob Holland Thursday at Langely Air Force Base ahead of the Air Power Over Hampton Roads performance was not at the air show, his tragic death conjured memories for some who witnessed a fatal crash in rehearsals for the NAS Oceana Air Show in 2007.
WTKR News 3 Executive Producer Joshua Wehmeyer was field producing with former anchor Barbara Ciara at Oceana that day, Friday, Sept. 7, 2007.
Pilot Jan Wildbergh was flying a World War II stunt plane when he crashed during rehearsals for the show. No one on the ground was hurt, but the incident was still witnessed by many.
It was Oceana's first reported casualty in more than six decades of air shows, The Virginian-Pilot reported at the time.
U.S. civil air show fatalities have been studied by the National Institutes of Health — one study in particular from 2015 recounted 20 years of crashes from 1993 through 2013.
The NIH study found that there were 31 crashes per 1,000 civil air events, but out of the 174 air show crashes in the 20-year period, more than half (52%) were fatal.
Non-pilot casualties related to these crashes are still considered extremely rare, the study found.
In 2007, the Oceana air show went on as scheduled and Langley is poised to continue its event Saturday and Sunday.
