'Cancelled our performance...': US pilot calls out Dubai Air Show for continuing event after Tejas crash

Tejas fighter jet crashed during the Dubai Air Show

Days after the Tejas plane crash at Dubai Air Show in which Wing Commander Namansh Syal lost his life, a US aerobatic pilot has shared a detailed and emotional account of the moments following the fatal crash of the IAF fighter jet on November 21.

Captain Taylor Hiester, part of the US F-16 team, shared a post on Instagram after the crash. He said his team was preparing their aircraft for their routine when the crash occurred.

In his post, he stated that he received several messages from people checking on his team after the tragedy, clarifying that they were not involved in the incident and were on their way b

Hiester shared what the scene was like for the Indian team, while the rest of the world at the Dubai air show carried on. He expressed anger as to how the organisers continued with the show right after dousing the fire that erupted from the crash Tejas had just suffered.

“‘The show must go on’ is what they always say. And they’re right. But just remember someone will say that after you’re gone too,” the captain said in a detailed post on Instagram.

However, he wrote that his team, along with a few others, opted to withdraw from their final display. “Though the show made the shocking decision to continue with the flying schedule, our team along with a few others made the decision to cancel our final performance out of respect to the pilot, his colleagues and family. I have a few personal notes to share which is what this page is for," he said.

“After two years of doing this job, that was a first for our team and it came just before our final performance of the season. Together and individually, we all quietly watched the aftermath unfold from a distance thinking about the Indian maintenance crew standing on the ramp next to an empty parking spot, aircraft ladder laid on the ground, the pilot’s belongings still in his rental car. I suppose each of us contemplated their new reality that came in an instant," he wrote.

“After they put the fire out, and I was notified by the airshow organisers that the flying display would continue, I made the decision that we would cancel. I walked through the show site maybe an hour or two later expecting to find it empty, down, or off. It wasn’t. The announcer was still enthusiastic, the crowd still watched the next several routines with excitement and when the show was over, it ended with ‘Congratulations to all of our sponsors, performers and we’ll see you in 2027’," he added.

Calling the experience “uncomfortable" and "jarring", Hiester reflected on how the moment underscored the importance of the people one works and travels with.

“The people you invest in, the people that you love and the people that love you back… will be the only way you live past your own individual end," he wrote, concluding his note with: “Thanks."