ORIGINAL: RCKen
I actually picked up this one when I was watching the series "A day in the Life" on The Military Channel, it's about the Blue Angels. When they fly their routine the flight leader is ALWAYS talking the group through every maneuver, and that is how the base EVERYTHING they do in the air on. And when you watch them fly in close formation you realize that is works because the other pilots aren't looking out of the front of the cockpit. They have their eyes glued on the wingtip of the plane next to them and they are relying on the verbal instructions from the flight leader to guide them through the maneuver.
Ken
In 1982, flying T-38's four members of the Thunderbirds team went into the Nevada desert in diamond formation when the lead pilot misjduged the exit from a formation loop, and the other 3 planes followed him in. All were killed.
I distinctly remember an aerial shot of the crash site, with the impact points in an almost perfect diamond. I believe they pancaked in because you could see streaks on the desert floor leading out away from the initial point of impact. Three parallel streaks.