FRECCE TRICOLORI PILOT DIES IN AN ULTRALIGHT CRASH
Alessio Ghersi ‘Pony 5’ of the elite Italian Air Force Aerobatic Team the Frecce Tricolori has lost his life in a Pioneer 300 ultralight crash this Saturday, 29th of April.
The accident took place at 6.30 pm yesterday, Saturday, 29th of April. The ultralight had taken off in ideal weather conditions from the historic runway of Campormido (Udine), a few steps from the Rivolto Air Base, home of the Frecce Tricolori, and crashed shortly after about 25 kilometres in the wooded hills of Lusevera.
Captain Ghersi, started his career in 2007 with the Ibis V Course of the Air Force Academy, after flying school, he was assigned to the 4th Wing of Grosseto where he obtained the qualification of a combat-ready pilot on the Eurofighter Typhoon, carrying out air defence activities both nationally and in NATO missions. Selected for the Frecce Tricolori, this would be his fifth season with the National Acrobatic Team.
Like many professional pilots, military or civilian, he also loved flying in his spare time: taking his shadow off the ground and going where his instinct told him, without having to follow flight plans and orders.
Yesterday's was one of these flights, together with a family member who lived in Milan and who had joined relatives to follow tomorrow's event, the display by the Frecce Tricolori at their home base of Rivolto that would open the 2023 display season for the team.
The Italian Air Force has cancelled the traditional May 1st event in Rivolto, sharing the pain of the family and remembering Ghersi as a pilot in service with the 313th Acrobatic Training Group, National Aerobatic Team (PAN) Frecce Tricolori.
Captain. Alessio Ghersi
Captain. Alessio Ghersi
Alessio Ghersi was an experienced pilot with over 2000 flight hours on multiple different aircraft. He was 34 years old married with two children, he was a motorcycle and guitar enthusiast, and he loved to spend his free time with his family and walking in nature with his dog. the passion for flying was with him from his young days when he heard the planes take off from the nearby airfield of Masera.
Born in Domodossola, Ghersi attended the Spezia high school in his city, graduating in 2007. Recently, he held a lecture at his school, inviting students to pursue their dreams consistently, facing victories and defeats and understanding the importance of commitment and sacrifice to achieve your goals. Ghersi also gave the school principal a poster with the national aerobatic team in flight, signed by all members of the Frecce Tricolori. Ghersi, who was flying the position of Pony 5 in the formation of ten aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori, was proud to represent his city and would return to visit it at least three or four times a year.
After two years of no flying due to the pandemic, the resumption of the acrobatic season was a great happiness for Ghersi, above all because he had the opportunity to participate at airshows like the one in Arona, organized a few kilometres from home. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Italian Air Force and the Frece Tricolori was to play a key role performing displays and flypasts all across Italy, something Ghersi awaited with great enthusiasm.
Frecce Tricolori
The Frecce Tricolori (Italian “Tricolour Arrows"), officially known as the 313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (PAN) Frecce Tricolori, is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Air Force. Based at Rivolto Air Base, province of Udine, it was created on 1st of March 1961 as a permanent group for the training of Air Force pilots in aerobatics.
The team consists of 13 Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN, a two-seat fighter-trainer aircraft, only 10 of which actually take part in displays. The remaining three are spare aircraft. With ten aircraft, nine in close formation and a soloist, they are the world's largest aerobatic team. All team members carry the call-signs “Pony”, followed by the number of the team aircraft. “Pony #0” is flown by the commanding officer of the squadron. The commanding officer must be a former team member but he doesn’t fly in the actual demonstrations. The formation team leader flies Pony #1 and he must also have flown with the team previously. The team’s solo pilot flies in the #10 position. All candidate pilots for the Frecce Tricolori must have accumulated a minimum of 750 flying hours on jet aircraft
The 313th Aerobatic Training Group was founded on the 1st of March 1961 at the Rivolto Air Base. On the same day, six North American F-86 Sabers of the 4th Air Brigade took off from Grosseto to Rivolto. Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale performed their first official display On the 1st of May 1961 at the Trento airport with five F86 Saber aircraft. Unfortunately, just three days later, on May 3rd, one of the planes crashed killing the pilot.
The Frecce Tricolori flew on North American F-86 Sabers until 1963. The staff, initially not as numerous as today, was enlarged in 1963 to nine aircraft plus the soloist, adding the possibility of using coloured smoke. The following year the Fiat G.91PAN fighter-bombers arrived and in 1982 the team moved to their current aircraft the Aermacchi MB-339 A/PAN MLU.
