Hawker Hunter crashes at airshow; multiple dead reported

a reply to: stumason

Fairly early in its career it suffered an in flight fire after the tail pipe separated. It was converted to a two seat aircraft during the repairs. Makes you wonder if that came back to bite them after years of flying.

a reply to: stumason

Good points...I was thinking the same thing. Fields all around and the plane ends up on the roadway. It actually crossed my mind that the pilot may have actually planned to "buzz" the people by going over the roadway ...in any event I find it hard to believe that the pilot survived. If he did...his life is ruined. He will be haunted the rest of his life by thoughts of what he could have done differently.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Hmmm... this is one I'm going to keep my eye on. Someone here suggested a possible G-LOC as the cause, but it does look to be under control during the whole loop

a reply to: stumason

I'd be surprised if it was. That looked like a fairly easy loop. Unless he had some kind of physiological issue I doubt that played a role.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Yeah, he appears to be "in control" (as it were) through the whole loop, in so far as the nose keeps pulling up throughout. Engine failure or pilot error?

a reply to: stumason

I'm betting mechanical failure of some sort. Flight controls, or engine.

This looks similar to the Thunderbirds crash in the 80s, when the Diamond Loop flew into the ground during practice. The lead had a flight control problem and couldn't pull out.

Just got this picture of the crash from further up the road - look at the roadworkers right next to the fireball. It also looks like the cockpit canopy is open, now this might be from the impact but maybe the pilot ejected at the last minute?

It's rotten luck there were roadworks, traffic was backing up and quite concentrated as a result. He couldn't have hit a worse place.

a reply to: stumason

The impact would pop it open but he may have tried to eject.

Tragic, R.I.P. to the poor accident victim's. Heart goes out to anyone involved.

If he was intending to go low over the stationary traffic to give them a thrill then this is going to change a few minds on flying over innocent living humans.

We lived under a very well used bit of recreational airspace. Most of what went on above us was excusable and sometimes very entertaining. We had stunt pilots practising above us sometimes and that was always a welcome sight.

The guy who flew below the legal altitude was derided by the other pilots in the area. Fair enough.

What really set me against the pleasure pilots in the area was the blase attitude of everyone involved in the glider that landed out on the hill above us. I didn't see the tow plane land. I'd assumed they'd just trailer the glider out. When they towed the glider out there was hardly enough space for it to get any lift so the tow plane and glider dipped low over the only row of houses in the area. None of us had been warned and there were old folks, children etc. in those houses. If anything had gone wrong, as we see here, there was no chance of getting the innocent ground dwellers out of the way of potential crashing aircraft. I was to some extent opposed to all pleasure pilots in the area from that point on. You don't threaten my children's lives for your fun and get away with it.

One time I saw something flutter down from a glider. I told the glider pilot who lived opposite. He said glider pilots sometimes pee in a bag and throw it out of the window. "It landed in your garden" I told him with pleasure.

I got some shocked responses on ATS when I talked about the ease of bringing down irresponsible helicopter pilots if they get close enough. I don't see anything wrong with it. If pilots choose to endanger the lives of people on the ground expect some of us to endanger your lives, for a laugh. Get used to it kiddies. That's how it is.

If this was a deliberate attempt to buzz the traffic on that road expect a backlash against all farty pants pleasure pilots.

a reply to: Kester

I doubt very much it was an attempt to "buzz" traffic. Even if he had been successful, he would have been reprimanded for it and possibly not allowed to fly a display again.

That's awful. My heart goes out to the victims. I saw this and first thing I thought was that it happened here. We're having an airshow downtown right now, and this is the first time since we had our own tragic accident.

a reply to: stumason

If proven.

Let's face it. The end of his loop ended here. Incompetence or deliberate?

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Multiple injuries are being reported outside the Shoreham airshow after a Hawker Hunter jet aircraft crashed into a roadway near the airport. At least four vehicles were reported as hit, and it's being described as a "major incident outside the airfield boundary". The pilot was reportedly pulled from the wreckage, but no word on any of the injuries yet.

www.rt.com...

Update: The A27 is closed due to the crash. Reports are that he hit at least four cars, and two cyclists may also have been injured. The pilot reportedly survived and is in the hospital.

Oh man,my condolences to the families.

On a side note, greatest airshow I ever saw was at Millington,Tenn. way back in 86.They did these mock bombing runs with A6s,very cool.

I've just watched that video again. He was in control and he had many other choices. He chose that spot to end his loop knowing there was a busy road exactly there.

From reading twitter and interviews with witnesses it sounds like he started the maneuver a bit low to begin with, right at the start of his display. One witness on the road only 10 - 15 yards away in her car reported seeing the plane break in two just before hitting the ground. Sounds like the g-forces were too much for the aging airframe as the pilot tried in vain to pull out.

I used to live very near Biggin Hill airfield and watched the display every year for free. TBH i never felt unsafe then. Accidents do happen but not as often now as years gone by, France and Farnborough Spring to mind.

Condolences to everyone involved.

originally posted by: kountzero
...aging airframe...

Flown like it still worked. Lessons to be learnt here guys.

What?
He didn't give it enough juice or the angle was too severe?

a reply to: cavtrooper7

Risks keep us alive. But not over people on the ground.