Sunderland Airshow 2019 draws to a successful close, despite weather conditions

That's it for another Sunderland Airshow. Fairer weather drew crowds to the seafront early in the day, with ten of the 14 scheduled air displays taking flight.

Although, a performing plane's burst tyre caused the closure of a runway at Newcastle Airport for an hour this afternoon.

Worsening weather conditions meant The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight couldn't perform for the second day in a row. However, spectators on Friday night were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the historic aircraft.

Although blustery winds and poor visibility did put a halt to the flying schedule mid-afternoon, it was an improvement to Saturday, which saw only four air displays take place.

Lt. Col. Stämpfli, the Display team Commander of the PC-7 Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Making their debut at the Sunderland Airshow this weekend was the Swiss Air Force PC-7 Team.

Lt. Col. Stämpfli, the Display team Commander, said the team were ‘flattered to be invited to Sunderland' and even more so to be compared to the Red Arrows, who weren't included in the line-up this year, due to a clash in schedules.

  • WATCH: Swiss Air Force PC-7 team's performance on Facebook

Proving to be real crowd-pleasers were The Blades, a formation aerobatic team from the UK and the Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter.

Click the video below to watch one of the stunts that got gasps and claps from the crowd lining the seafront.

Despite the bleak weather, organisers were pleased with the turnout and thanked the crowds and volunteers for their help in making a great weekend.

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