More than 500,000 visit MacDill's military air show
By Times Staff Writer
Published April 5, 2004
TAMPA - AirFest 2004 at MacDill Air Force Base ended Sunday evening with the two-day event attracting more than 500,000 spectators, MacDill officials said.
"This was not a military air show but a community air show," Brig. Gen. David "Tanker" Snyder, commander of the 6th Air Mobility Wing, said in a statement Sunday.
Snyder called AirFest a chance for MacDill to say "thank you" to Tampa Bay for supporting military personnel stationed at the base.
The festival, which featured displays and airborne demonstrations that cover the history of military aviation, has been a popular annual tradition since 1987. But AirFest was canceled for the past two years because of safety concerns after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
MacDill officials didn't report any major problems Sunday, and no one with the Tampa Police Department reported serious traffic accidents, though traffic around the base backed up for miles.
