Italian Army – 147th Anniversary
On May 6th, the Esercito Italiano (Italian Army) celebrated its 147th Anniversary with a show that was held in the Tor Di Quinto military hippodrome. The show comprised also an air display of the main...
View ArticleNH90 crashes into Bracciano Lake during an airshow
An NH90 helicopter, serialled MM81519 EI-202 of the 1 Gr Sq of the Italian Army based in Viterbo crashed on June 1, in the Bracciano Lake at 15.15L causing the death of Cap. Filippo Fornassi. The other...
View ArticleAli sul Lago: the air display before the NH90 crashed into Bracciano Lake
Even if the Ali sul Lago will be long remembered for the tragic images of the Italian Army NH90 crashing into the waters of Bracciano Lake in front of the Vigna di Valle museum of the Italian Air Force...
View ArticleThe NH90 crash: which possible cause?
In the aftermath of the accident involving the Italian Army NH90 crashing into the waters of Bracciano Lake, I was asked hundreds of questions. People who met me wanted to know what I had seen, others...
View ArticleClose up view of the cockpit of the NH90 before it crashed into the Bracciano...
Giovanni Maduli, one of my co-workers, sent me the following picture he took at Bracciano a few minutes before the NH90 EI-202 crashed into the Bracciano Lake causing the death of Capt. Fornassi. The...
View ArticleNew Italian Army Special Colour
On Sept. 8, Rimini airbase hosted the Change of Command at the head of the 7° Reggimento Vega of the Esercito Italiano (Italian Army), the largest Reggimento of the Italian Army comprising 3 Gruppo...
View Article7° Reggimento Vega Change of Command – Rimini 08.09.08
After providing some exclusive images of the Special Colour AB205, Paolo Maglio sent me another contribution from the 7° Reggimento Vega Change of Command’s ceremony, held in Rimini on Sept. 08. The...
View ArticleAir displays above the water: a "risky business"?
During the last month, I’ve often thought about the accident I witnessed on Jun. 1 when a brand new NH90 of the Italian Army, piloted by an experienced crew, crashed into the Bracciano lake (for more...
View ArticlePodcast: Airshows above the surface of the water
Podcast 1: Airshows above the surface of the water
View ArticleNovember 9th – Florence Armed Forces Day
As I explained in a previous post (November 4th 2008 – 90th Anniversary of the end of WWI) between Nov 4 and Nov 9, the major Italian towns hosted the celebrations of the Armed Forces Day and the 90th...
View Article2008: a bad year for Italian military helicopters
Most probably, 2008 will be remembered as one of the worst years in the history of the Italian military helicopter aviation. At least 5 accidents occurred to aircraft belonging to both the Aeronautica...
View ArticleAir Show Accident overview 2008
Major General (retired) Des Barker, former South African Air Force test and demonstration pilot has written the annual airshow accident review for display pilots, airshow organisers and safety officers...
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