[Guna]

Does anyone else also suspect a sabotage? Very likely in my opinion. Also I am surprised that they let the fire to spread when you expect all kind of preparations to be in place for such high profile event.

[dailydriver]

Have been glued to the news channels for over two hours now. What pains me is the human cost of the tragedy. People are struggling to identify their cars, burnt beyond recognition as almost all of the parked ones are! Women seem to be the worst hit emotionally; a number of them are crying inconsolably.

Enthusiasts or not, most people have a sentimental attachment with their cars; cars are repositories of memories, a sign of arrival, especially for the middle classes.

Along with the 300+ cars, countless dreams have been shattered.

Will the government fix the responsibility for this avoidable tragedy?

A car cemetery of huge proportions!

[AMG Power]

This is extremely sad news. 300 cars were gutted this morning when they were at the parking lot close to the Yelahana Air base. The owners had gone to witness the Airshow.

Display has been suspended.

Link

[CaptainPrice]

It's really sad indeed. Initial findings and speculations have pointed towards a discarded cigarette butt being the cause but let this not trigger any judgements here. I hope it's not arson. Rumours of various propaganda have begun floating on WhatsApp groups so beware.

My heart goes out to all the owners who have lost their precious rides. May the investigation be quick with conclusive evidence.

[sudev]

Makeshift car park on dry grass land is itself a recipe for disaster. Tall dry grass tends to get cut by car cross members etc. and packed underneath the car in nooks and crannies. If this happens to be next to hot exhaust pipe auto combustion happens.

Happened to me but got saved as we noticed smoke underneath before it could do damage. AFAIK three participants from Desert Storm lost their vehicles to fire in dry scrub land.

Seeing the pictures from site it stuck me as likely a cause as discarded cigarette.

Sad

[Guna]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Will the government fix the responsibility for this avoidable tragedy?

A car cemetery of huge proportions!

Government should own up responsibility and in fact compensate some amount (as even Insurance wont' cover 100%). Allowing the parking on dray grass is inviting the problem. In fact the car owners and Insurance companies should sue the government.
I have never made a claim in last 10 years (or probably more) and I was contemplating of going only for third party insurance in future but this kind of incident makes you think twice.

[arun_josie]

Aerial view of the affected cars. Received via Whatsapp.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by Guna

Allowing the parking on dray grass is inviting the problem. In fact the car owners and Insurance companies should sue the government.

It can be tried, but don't know how this would work out. "Parking at owners risk" is the standard mantra.

Also I am surprised that they let the fire to spread when you expect all kind of preparations to be in place for such high profile event.

The main focus area (even from an anti-sabotage or anti-terror angle) would be the Yelahanka Air Base, the exhibition venue and the general visitor's area. These areas would have multiple schemes for security & protection. Fire trucks & staff, Commandos and police men to provide physical security, and devices to check for explosives etc. An open car park generally away from the main run way, and the air base ideally will never be considered as a place which is under threat.

Originally Posted by AMG Power

Display has been suspended.

From what I heard, the display seems to have restarted at around 1430Hrs. IIRC there are two shows every day.

Originally Posted by deep_bang

Either way, its surprising to me that so many cars are burnt - does it mean we have such a huge lack of fire-control at these big gatherings?

This is a make shift parking lot and would not have any fire fighting equipment kept there. The main fire fighting teams (and equipments) would all be at the main venue - the air base. And what I have noticed is that Bengaluru seems to have very less fire stations for its size & population. And with the unique road traffic situation in Bengaluru, time taken for the fire brigade to reach the spot is really high.

A case I remember, and it had happend two years back. A temporary textile shop at Varthur got fire in the morning hours. Now we know how wide Varthur Road is and the road traffic out there. There is no Fire Station at Sarjapura town (which may be the easiest to come from), and fire engines had to come from the Fire Station at Sarjapur Road (Kaikondarahalli) and from Krishnarajapuram side (Mahadevapura Fire station, most likely). Any body can take a guess on how long it would take for them to reach the spot, especially in peak morning traffic.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by Guna

Government should own up responsibility

Public TV Kannada had a caller who claimed to be a contractor previously associated with Aero India show. He was telling that the terms of the contract required the grass to be completely shaved. Also that 50 lakh litres of water/day needed to be sprinkled all over the parking and exhibition area. Had these been done, the tragedy could easily have been averted or at the least, the intensity minimised.

Since there was obviously dry grass left untrimmed, as evidenced by the visuals on TV and even by Bhpians, it is clear that officials have erred in not fulfilling their duties.

While we can take comfort in the fact that no human casualties have been reported, this tragedy should indeed be treated as one.

On a more pragmatic note, I feel this would be the final edition of Aero India in the city. There are too many unsavory things associated with the event. Back when there were rumours of the event being shifted out, there was a lot of hue and cry; one specific refrain being that Brand Bengaluru would suffer.

If not for anything else, the simple thought of saving 50 lakh litres of water per day in a parched city should be incentive enough to bid good bye to the show.

The following video shows the extent of damage.

https://youtu.be/PlPWEO3rNns

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by sudev

Makeshift car park on dry grass land is itself a recipe for disaster. Tall dry grass tends to get cut by car cross members etc. and packed underneath the car in nooks and crannies. If this happens to be next to hot exhaust pipe auto combustion happens.

Happened to me but got saved as we noticed smoke underneath before it could do damage. AFAIK three participants from Desert Storm lost their vehicles to fire in dry scrub land.

Seeing the pictures from site it stuck me as likely a cause as discarded cigarette.

Sad

Totally agree. Parking a hot car over dry parched grass is a recipe for disaster. I believe even the car user manual warns about this.

This is very likely the cause. The high winds could easily have blown the dry grass and further fueled the fire. An absolutely avoidable tragedy.

Just received an SMS from Volkswagen Whitefield Bangalore offering their help in case your car got damaged at Aero Show fire. They also sent a WhatsApp measage. Well now this is a welcome gesture from VM. I guess they are going to score some brownie points.

Mods. Sorry for back to back posts. You may merge if needed.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

He was telling that the terms of the contract required the grass to be completely shaved. Also that 50 lakh litres of water/day needed to be sprinkled all over the parking and exhibition area.

Which means that IAF has been very precise on their terms and conditions. IAF and Govt. of India can be blamed (for the sake of it, and for supervisory lapse) but the responsibility lies with the contractor. He would have siphoned of the funds, which ideally he should spend on cutting the grass and sprinkling water etc. Let the details of the parking contractor be let out in the open; for all you know we may even see sympathisers who support the contractor. Blaming the government and government agencies is a more easier task .

On a more pragmatic note, I feel this would be the final edition of Aero India in the city. There are too many unsavory things associated with the event. Back when there were rumours of the event being shifted out, there was a lot of hue and cry; one specific refrain being that Brand Bengaluru would suffer.

This time around Lucknow in UP was a real close contestant. It would be more of politics which retained Aero India 2019 at Bangalore. The usual refrain is many agencies like HAL are at Bangalore and so Aero India show should be here only. Times are now changing. HAL has lost its sheen and many other private parties are now getting involved (L&T, Mahindra, Reliance etc.). Best way would be for each city to bid for such shows. The bidder who won the bid then has the responsibility for every thing from logistics, identifying and liaisoning with air base, visitor management (all the way down to parking management). Indian Air Force and Govt. of India would be in the mode of "invited guests".

[V.Narayan]

I normally don't write posts that criticize India too strongly. I am too nationalistic. But as a trade insider, with Aero India, allow me to make an exception.

First very sorry to see that hundreds of car owners have lost an important and valuable asset and may end up running from pillar to post to get the documents needed for the insurance.

For several years I participated in the Aero India show and have experienced first hand as a participating exhibitor how terrible is the organization and attitude of the Defence Exhibition Organization of the Ministry of Defence. It does not come as a surprise that a horrific event like this took place.

The airstrip would 100% have had 2 to 4 fire tenders standing by on alert as landings and take-off's were in progress. I wonder if they were deployed ASAP as they would have been within the campus only 1 or 2 kms away as the crow flies.

<rant starts>
We treat the Aero show as a big event. But sadly in the world of aviation it usually does not feature on the travel list of most aviation industry organizations. Three or four of the big guys set up stalls & chalets as they hope to sell warplanes to the Indian Govt. even if it takes 15 years to not get a decision. But the mid-tier and upper mid-tier companies, with revenues from $200 million to $4 billion, who are the backbone of the industry rarely exhibit at Bangalore. I used to sponsor a chalet and stall till some years back at the cost of millions of rupees but stopped due to zero returns and having to deal with the organizers. The money saved was spent more efficiently at Dubai, Singapore & Geneva.

The organization of the show and the harassment of non-sarkari visitors makes this the worst show in Asia, Europe & Americas. After having exhibited at a dozen shows, overseas, about 50 odd times I can say this with hand on heart. The other shows are far larger (Paris, Shanghai, Geneva, Dubai), visitors are treated as customers and guests and all visitors are permitted onto the tarmac. Here, at Yelankana, if you are a non-Govt sponsor, who has paid millions as fee, you have to jump through hoops to get your business visitors on the tarmac for a walk around while PSU employees and their kids are freely roaming around. Sadly it is a sarkari show for their own ilk.
<Rant over>

[no_boundaries]

This is very sad news.

If the documents were kept in the car, wonder how will they prove ownership and claim the loss. May be the ticketing system or CC TV footage could help establish vehicle details.

It is going to be one long arduous process for sure to the poor owners. Hope these contractors are taken for a strict action. Its gods grace that there were no human casualties. It is time people become more accountable for their actions and responsible to surroundings rather than taking things for granted.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Let the details of the parking contractor be let out in the open; for all you know we may even see sympathisers who support the contractor. Blaming the government and government agencies is a more easier task .

Quoting from TV9 news:

The event management was outsourced to Mumbai based RMB event management company who had bid at half what others had.

Aero India has also this document on net:

https://aeroindia.gov.in/site/PDF/Of...20provider.pdf

Download the document here: Aero India Official Service provider.pdf

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by no_boundaries

If the documents were kept in the car, wonder how will they prove ownership and claim the loss.

They can get duplicate.

Wondering if there is any unlucky car whose insurance had expired and was just about to renew it but.