Six U.S. soldiers and other civilian personnel were injured at McConnell Air Force Base on Sunday after a severe storm forced the cancellation of a planned air show that thousands of people were expected to attend.
McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, reported that ten people “suffered minor injuries when a slow-moving wet microburst brought strong winds, lightning and rain to the base.”
Six of the injured were military or medical personnel, while four were civilian vendors, base spokesman John Van Winkle said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Each of them suffered “minor injuries,” he said.
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The storm forced the cancellation of a planned air show. (Joe Owen, Kansas State Police Officer)
A pilot and a civilian were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. All were outside on the airfield when the damaging winds struck, Van Winkle said.
Due to adverse weather conditions, spectators have not yet been able to enter the event site.
The storm forced the cancellation of a planned air show. (Joe Owen, Kansas State Police Officer)
The Sunday portion of the McConnell Frontiers in Flight airshow was canceled earlier in the day due to storm fears. McConnell said a slow-moving wet microburst lingered over the base during the morning. That microburst brought wind gusts of up to 54 mph to the McConnell flight line.
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“Due to the damage to the facilities, the base is unable to safely conduct a air show and has had to make the decision to cancel the air show,” Van Winkle said. “Safety is always McConnell’s top priority, especially when it comes to inviting the public to an air show.”
Kansas State Police Officer Joe Owen said the air show suffered “significant damage from the storm, resulting in at least one injury.”
A lightning strike is seen over McConnell AFB. (Joe Owen, Kansas State Police Officer)
“For this reason, the air show has been cancelled for today. Stay safe everyone!” Owen wrote in a Facebook post that included a photo of an overturned plane.
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The Saturday part of the air show brought more than 65,000 visitors.
