JBER’s Arctic Thunder air show canceled amid COVID-19 concerns

The Arctic Thunder air show and open house where jets scream over the Anchorage area will be canceled this year, according to a statement from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Friday.

The show, scheduled for July 11-12, is canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the military base said. The biennial event typically draws large crowds of spectators to the base.

“We tried for months to explore a responsible way to open JBER’s gates to the community to showcase our Joint Force capabilities and aerial acrobatics,” said Col. Patricia Csànk, commander of JBER and the 673d Air Base Wing. “Unfortunately, we could not come up with an experience that balanced our responsibility to protect the public’s health and safety with a fun experience."

"We are planning a Team JBER salute to the community later in the summer, and are looking forward to hosting the entire community in 2022 for the next (Arctic Thunder),” she said.

[Because of a high volume of comments requiring moderation, we are temporarily disabling comments on many of our articles so editors can focus on the coronavirus crisis and other coverage. We invite you to write a letter to the editor or reach out directly if you’d like to communicate with us about a particular article. Thanks.]