Rocky Mountain Airshow Organizers Say They've Learned From Their Mistakes
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - The Rocky Mountain Airshow continues to hand out refunds after huge traffic delays caused some ticket holders to miss the show altogether over weekend when the Air Force Thunderbirds performed.
It was the first time the Thunderbirds performed with the show in 18 years, and that drew huge crowds. So many people showed up many had to be turned away.
It was the first time the air show was held at the Aurora Reservoir, and there's only one road in or out. With thousands of fans, traffic quickly became a problem.
Fans stuck watching the show from the freeway had some choice words for organizers.
"They didn't do any planning on this thing," a woman said.
Traffic jams on E-470 pushed traffic to a crawl, forcing fans to wait hours to get in, or miss the show altogether.
"If it was up to me I'd have a four-lane divided highway with an exit right here at the Aurora Reservoir," Scott McMillan with the Rocky Mountain Airshow said.
McMillan says traffic and the venue's single entrance was a focal point of planning.
"That was identified right away," he said.
McMillan says the venue opened up the gates and parking lots hours before normal, and encouraged people to get there early.
"We had meeting after meeting to try to detail what we thought would be the choke points," he said.
Organizers also didn't oversell tickets, and on Sunday allotted more parking which allowed 25 percent more people in than Saturday.
"Many people that came back on Sunday morning were Saturday ticket holders, and we accommodated them out here."
But some people were still turned away.
"We filled the place, right up to capacity."
McMillan says next year the Blue Angels will headline the show, but it's too early to tell if a change of venue is in order.
"Jet teams take up a lot of area in order to operate."
McMillan says overall they put on a great show this year have learned from their mistakes for next year.
"In any first-time event there's going to be a hiccup or two."
