Offutt air show faces challenges due to excessive heat and bus system

BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV)– The air show saw over 80,000 attendees over the weekend but the heat and other factors caused problems during the two day event

• Over 150 people were treated due to excessive heat
• 15 people were transported to the hospital during the event
• Offutt faced challenges getting people on and off base due to bus system

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Thousands gathered at Offutt to see the return of the air show after six years, but it wasn't exactly a smooth flight.

Now I’m talking with Offutt officials and attendees to see what went wrong and how it was handled.

The air show saw nearly 80,000 people over the weekend, but the event faced some challenges.

As temperatures reached 108 degreed on the tarmac, over 150 people needed to be treated after becoming sick because of the excessive heat and another 15 were transported to the hospital.

Offutt personnel took action Sunday to alleviate some of the problems but the heat was still overpowering for some.

"I saw plenty of water stations fillings, they were great with that, I saw one or two tents with misters going on but there was hardly any shade," attendee Cheyenne Merryman said.

Offutt gave away 16 pallets of water bottles and many attendees set up camp in the shade underneath planes on display.

But this wasn't the only issue. Many attendees say the wait to get on base was long and some never even made it due to the bus system.

"The biggest complaint would be the busses, I went Saturday,” Merryman said. “There’s just a lot of lack of communication on where to drop people off where people are going, just stuff like that.”

Offutt lost 5,000 parking spaces on base due to flooding in 2019, forcing more people to park in off-base lots and wait for buses onto the base.

"We never had to this much off base transporting off base onto base, so it was a bit new for us,” said Kris Pierce, chief of Public Affairs. “What was happening was we had prescreening to get on the bus but then we had two or three buses empty waiting."

After the feedback Saturday, Offutt changed their bus systems to get people on base sooner and officials say Sunday went a lot smoother. And now this something they will know for the future shows.

Offutt says it’s taking the feedback from this airshow into account when planning the next one, which will be in 2026.