September Fly-In Event At Crossville Airport Cancelled

The September Fly-In Event at Crossville Airport has been cancelled this year.

The annual event features civilian and military aircraft on display for the public to view. City Manager Greg Wood said following Covid guidelines during the event is not possible.

“We just felt we could not comply with the Governor’s Tennessee Pledge to practice social distancing,” Wood said. “When you have that many people confined space and trying to look at aircraft, it is hard to keep people six feet apart.”

Wood said the popular 15 minute airplane rides offered also caused problems. Social distancing during theses flights and sanitizing between each take off would simply not work, Wood said.

“We usually put a person in every seat in the aircraft,” Wood said. “But, that does not allow social distancing, and with the demand of the flights, you can not sanitize the planes between flights either.”

Wood said with neighboring counties, including Cumberland, doubling in Covid cases in the past month, hosting the event would be unwise. Waivers signed for airplane rides during the 2019 fly-in indicated a number of people attended from outside of Tennessee.

The city is looking to reschedule this year’s event for Spring of 2021.