Day five, Thursday August 24th
A difficult day. The mood around the airfield has been quiet, time was taken up with official business and also digesting the events of the previous day. The Spanish team gathered for a talk last night, then the team leaders, and all agreed to suspend the competition for a day, and then to carry on with the last tasks on Friday. I think we all felt that this was the best way to go ahead, and that the dead pilot would not want us to stop flying. He was named and the organisation released an official statement. Some felt the need to get away for a short while today, I went into the nearest big town of Leon for a walk around. Late in the afternoon we got a call to say that the funeral was to take place in a town two hours drive away, so it was a rush to get there in time.
Over 250 turned up, and even though I did not know any of the people involved, I still found it a very difficult time. There was a lot of emotion on display and many competitors made the trip out of respect for a fellow pilot. It was the first time I had attended the funeral of a fellow recreational aviator, and it was not a pleasant experience. The campsite held a moving ceremony last night after the meetings, a bright sodium flare was burned and the official flags were lowered to half-mast. It was a terrible accident.
The competition will continue tomorrow with a slalom, then navigation, then precision landing, which (I think) will mark the end of the comp. It’s been a long and emotional day, it’s time for bed.