A Hawker Hunter crashes at Shoreham Air Show: 11 fatalities

[Passenger]

The British press reports "several casualties" when a Hawker Hunter failed a loop and crashed onto a road at the Shoreham Air Show in West Sussex.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34027260



(titel is updated upon new official information)

[sean1982]

Time to put a stop to this needless risk taking

[jan_olieslagers]

Webmaster, pls remove, and thanks for corrective action.

[convair]

Is "several casualties" really a case of trivia?

I agree with you jan that a specific topic under "Latest Aviation News" or "Military Aviation" would have been more adequate to report that tragedy.

However, I don't think Passenger meant to minimize this sad event in any way but just picked the first available thread.

[Passenger]

(edited by passenger - solved by the webmaster)

[sn26567]

- several casualties (no details yet)
- the plane hit cars
- A27 motorway closed

[Passenger]

Breaking news : South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that there has been seven fatalities declared at the scene, one patient with serious life-threatening injuries has been transported to Royal Sussex County Hospital and further 14 patients treated for minor injuries.

(source BBC)

[Passenger]

Photo BBC

BBC Live Reporting
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-34028331

BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34027260

[airazurxtror]

Andy Hill was believed to be the pilot of the Hawker Hunter jet which crashed and exploded into a ball of flames at Shoreham Airshow today.

Andy Hill was performing a loop when the Second World War Hawker Hunter fighter jet smashed into the A27. The accident left seven people dead with one person now fighting for their life in hospital.

Friends say Mr Hill is a British Airways captain who was also a top RAF pilot.
David Wildridge, who flew at the airshow today, told the Mid Sussex Times: "He is a highly experience pilot, well-known and well-loved.
"He was a Harrier pilot in the air force. They are the top RAF pilots - the best of the best."
Mr Hill, whose wife is also a British Airways captain, started his career flying on a University Air Squadron and later began flying Airbus passenger jets.
He is also an experienced formation instructor and display pilot.

It is not known whether he survived the crash.

Stephen Jones told the BBC: "He'd gone up into a loop and as he was coming out of the loop I just thought, you're too low, you're too low, pull up.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sh ... re-6301850

Picture just before the crash :

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2015-08- ... ham-crash/

[Passenger]

These are the very last moments before impact:


Photo Andrew Girlder on BBC.com


Photo Archie Tipple on BBC.com

[sn26567]

Andy Hill was performing a loop when the Second World War Hawker Hunter fighter jet smashed into the A27.

The Hawker Hunter is not a WWII jet. It was developed well after the war (first flight in 1951). The Gloster Meteor has been developed during the war and was the only jet used by the allied forces during WWII.

Ah, those British tabloids!

By the way, both the Meteor (in various versions: Meteor 4 and Meteor 8) and the Hawker Hunter have been flying in the Belgian Air Force.

[airazurxtror]

Seven people died when an historic Hawker Hunter fighter jet plummeted on to the A27 at Shoreham in West Sussex after failing to pull out of a loop manoeuvre.
More bodies may be found as investigators and emergency services continue to search the scene of the Shoreham Airshow plane crash, police said.
The pilot was flown to the Royal Sussex Hospital, where he is in a critical condition and fighting for his life, Superintendent Jane Derrick, from Sussex Police, said.

[Passenger]

Andy Hill was believed to be the pilot of the Hawker Hunter jet which crashed and exploded into a ball of flames at Shoreham Airshow today. Andy Hill was performing a loop when the Second World War Hawker Hunter fighter jet smashed into the A27. The accident left seven people dead with one person now fighting for their life in hospital. Friends say Mr Hill is a British Airways captain who was also a top RAF pilot. David Wildridge, who flew at the airshow today, told the Mid Sussex Times: "He is a highly experience pilot, well-known and well-loved. "He was a Harrier pilot in the air force. They are the top RAF pilots - the best of the best." Mr Hill, whose wife is also a British Airways captain, started his career flying on a University Air Squadron and later began flying Airbus passenger jets. He is also an experienced formation instructor and display pilot. It is not known whether he survived the crash.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2015-08- ... ham-crash/

Seven people died when an historic Hawker Hunter fighter jet plummeted on to the A27 at Shoreham in West Sussex after failing to pull out of a loop manoeuvre. More bodies may be found as investigators and emergency services continue to search the scene of the Shoreham Airshow plane crash, police said. The pilot was flown to the Royal Sussex Hospital, where he is in a critical condition and fighting for his life, Superintendent Jane Derrick, from Sussex Police, said.

Wouldn't it be fair to give as much attention to the seven civilian victims that have been killed in the crash - seven civilians who had nothing to do with the airshow? Example:


(photo West Sussex County Times)

http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/sport/lo ... -1-6919407

[airazurxtror]

The Hawker Hunter that crashed belonged to wealthy Essex businessman Graham Peacock and is usually kept with another historic plane he owns at North Weald Airdrome.
His Hunter had passed through the hands of several private owners before he bought it in 2012 after it had been advertised for sale for £65,000.
The advert described the aircraft as "an immaculate two-seater supersonic T7 which is flown on a regular basis, in excellent condition inside and out."
The cost of flying such a plane - including maintenance, fuel and insurance is around £1,500 an hour and owners often cover their running costs by attending air shows and flying displays.
It was taken out of military service in 1996 and auctioned off, passing through several civilian hands before the wealthy businessman bought it in 2012. It has been a regular at air shows for the last three years and has appeared at Shoreham before.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviatio ... crash.html

[sn26567]

Shoreham crash Sussex Police update:

- 11 "highly likely" killed
- pilot critically ill
- death toll could rise

http://bbc.in/1V2iaN0

[sn26567]

Final death toll from Shoreham air crash could rise to 20, Sussex Police say

http://bbc.in/1LuVNOK

[Passenger]

On 24th August, the British CAA has started a review of air show rules. With immediate effect, all Hawker Hunter aircraft flights are grounded. Also decided: "...Flying displays over land by vintage jet aircraft will be significantly restricted until further notice. They will be limited to flypasts, which means ‘high energy’ aerobatics will not be permitted..."

Source - more details:
http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?c ... l&nid=2479

[sn26567]

With immediate effect, all Hawker Hunter aircraft flights are grounded.

Are there still many Hawker Hunters in flying condition? I doubt it.

[Passenger]

Allow me to insist we remain on the subject - the tragic Hunter crash at or near Shoreham.
Other crashes in their own thread, or not at all.

There is a button "report a post", which you can click if you think that a post is too off topic. Feel free to do so.

Fact is the Hawker Hunter crash was the first of a series of four crashes involving aircraft attending an air show as participant or as visitor. The Hawker Hunter crash killed car drivers, car passengers and bicycle riders on a busy road. I like air shows, but this 4th crash seems to point that general aviation safety has reached a dangerous level regarding air shows.

[jan_olieslagers]

Are there still many Hawker Hunters in flying condition?

"many" is a bit vague - but there must be several. More than F104's or B1's ... One Swiss-registered sample was in an airprox incident recently, and I believe there's several UK-registered. Ought to look it up, perhaps on wikipedia, or so, but can't be bothered right now.