EAA AirVenture wrapped up its 2022 celebration on July 31, and officials say it set a record for attendance. The EAA estimates 650,000 people attended the annual general aviation showcase at Wittman Regional Airport (OSH) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
That would top the previous record, set in 2019, of 642,000.
“There were several factors involved in the record attendance this year, in addition to the great weather,” said EAA CEO and Chairman Jack Pelton. “Programs such as the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force contributed to exciting aerial displays all week, and it was a joy to welcome our international visitors back in full force for the first time since 2019.”
More than 10,000 aircraft arrived at Wittman Regional and other nearby airports, according to the EAA, with KOSH logging 18,684 aircraft operations in the 11-day period from July 21-31, which is an average of approximately 121 takeoffs or landings each hour when the airport is open.
Among that heavy traffic, there were a couple of reports of damage, according to the NTSB accident database.
It shows the five accident reports filed at KOSH just before and during EAA AirVenture.
Only one of the five notes any injuries, involving a Cessna L-19E on July 24, classifying the injury as minor and damage to the plane as substantial.
A Waco YMF-F5C suffered what the NTSB classified as substantial damage in a July 23 incident. Also on July 23, a Cessna 180 suffered substantial damage but there were no injuries, according to the NTSB preliminary report.
It should be noted that the airport endured a severe weather event on July 23. The report makes no mention of if these incidents were storm-related.
Substantial damage was also reported involving a Cessna 310R in a July 24 incident with no reported injuries.
A July 28 incident involving a Van’s RV-4 and a Van’s RV-8 resulted in substantial damage to the RV-4 and minor damage to the RV-8 with no injuries, according to an NTSB preliminary report.
Many of the reports were filed by FAA field workers, and the NTSB did not travel to the scene for any of the cases.
The NTSB database indicates that only the incidents involving the Cessna 310 and the Waco occurred on the actual grounds of Wittman Regional. The other incidents are listed as Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Among aircraft featured in shows and on the ground, the EAA said 3,226 showplanes included 1,375 planes in vintage aircraft parking and 1,156 homebuilt aircraft, a 6% jump from 2021, and 369 warbirds, up 5%, year to year.
“We introduced a tagline of ‘Unlike Anything Else’ for this year’s AirVenture event and 2022’s fly-in proved to truly be unlike anything else,” Pelton said. “We had seven days of nearly perfect weather, along with this year’s programs and activities, which brought out people and airplanes in numbers that we haven’t seen before.”
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The EAA estimates that 40,000 people camped at 12,000 sites at the airport, and it was a truly global event, with 92 countries represented by AirVenture attendees.
“We’re going to take a little time to give our staff and volunteers a well-deserved rest, but there were numerous discussions at AirVenture 2022 about possibilities for next year,” Pelton said. “Certainly the 70th anniversary year of EAA will be among the big considerations as we look forward to next year’s edition of The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration.”
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