Singapore air force officials were red-faced last week after a ground test by the elite Black Knights air demonstration team left a lasting impression on its neighbors. According to air force officials quoted by the Straits Times, the Black Knights were trying out a new dye intended to create a red smoke trail from their F-16s. However, it also turned about 200 ton of unharvested vegetables, numerous cars, and anything else in its path (including a pet cat) varying shades of red, after high winds carried the smoke over the neighborhood.
It took a week for the air force to fess up that the mess was caused by the test, which was carried out at Tengah Air Base. “We are currently conducting further investigations and have suspended all such trials. Standard aviation dye was used in this trial,” air force spokesman Col. Darius Lim told the newspaper. He stressed the dye doesn’t pose a health hazard but farmers whose crops were coated have been told to destroy the 10 truckloads of leafy greens they were growing. There’s no word on the color or health of the cat.
