Hawker Hunter crashes at airshow; multiple dead reported

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.

I saw no Chute... I hope I am wrong.
Look like he lost lift......

a reply to: DogMeat

They're saying he survived and was pulled out of the wreckage. No word on any of the injuries yet.

worst nightmare....in a small pointy jet and slipping into the ground....to be able to survive that.....makes my heart skip a beat....they're too small....gives me the willy's

Looks like he was at the bottom of a loop, and didn't make it.

Sky news reporting several dead RIP people news.sky.com...

The UK has seen a few crashes in this years air show calender

a reply to: Zaphod58

Condolences to the bereaved.

If there are dead people who had nothing to do with the airshow I hope their estates sue the show into insolvency. There are too many of these crashes that I've heard of or seen videos of throughout the years. Leave the fancy flying to the hawks and eagles, because this type of "daredevilism" is taking the lives of univolved people.

a reply to: Aleister

The rules in place for airshows do a good job of protecting spectators. The number of accidents that injure or kill spectators is so low in recent years that you're safer at the show than walking to the store or down the stairs.

originally posted by: Aleister
If there are dead people who had nothing to do with the airshow I hope their estates sue the show into insolvency. There are too many of these crashes that I've heard of or seen videos of throughout the years. Leave the fancy flying to the hawks and eagles, because this type of "daredevilism" is taking the lives of univolved people.

Unfortunately, Shoreham had a crash of a Hurricane in 2007, but safety is paramount in these events. The Red Arrows cancelled their visit to here in Newcastle, Co Down a couple of weeks ago because of a communications problem in one aircraft. Anyway, it does seem there are fatalities, according to a police spokesman. condolences to all those families involved.

originally posted by: Aleister
If there are dead people who had nothing to do with the airshow I hope their estates sue the show into insolvency. There are too many of these crashes that I've heard of or seen videos of throughout the years. Leave the fancy flying to the hawks and eagles, because this type of "daredevilism" is taking the lives of univolved people.

Maybe you'd like to back the above up with some statistics, then see how silly the figures are when compared with deaths on the roads each and every day, and mass casualty / fatality events from bigger road crashes!

Daredevilism? You even made up a word for it?
The pilots of these aircraft take safety, of themselves and others, very seriously indeed, with many of them being ex or serving military. They don't just strap in and go tooling around all over the place , but are highly experienced pilots and professionals.
Accidents happen though, like any other fast paced activity, but we don't go banning them because someone happened to come a cropper!

Seven confirmed to have died at the scene. Two were taken to the hospital, one in critical, one with minor injuries.

I'm surprised those things are flying anymore. 1950s technology. Nasty accident. Was it RAF. I thought they'd been retired.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Sad news - I feel for the poor sods on the A27 who were just going about their business when a vintage jet lands on them..

Just goes to show, you never know when your number is up. Even a trip to Tesco can end in a fireball...

Watching the video, it's bad luck he ploughed into the dual carriageway - he had fields either side...

We were talking here at work, surely he should have had more height before performing the manoeuvre and wouldn't the planning had it performed over an area devoid of people? That's a busy A road right there that was chock full of traffic.

a reply to: woodwardjnr

It's a vintage plane. They are largely retired (last active ones in the 90's) but are still used in the RAF for training.

a reply to: woodwardjnr

It's a civilian aircraft. It's owned by Canfield Hunter Ltd. It carried WV372 on it but was registered as G-BXFI.

They're reporting 15 injured 4 critical now.

a reply to: stumason

If he stalled, as it appears, more altitude wouldn't have helped much. It should have been planned to stay over the airfield, but his problem may have pushed him out some.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Yeah, we were thinking he stalled as well - it's a shame he couldn't get it over 20 feet either side, but I realise he had little time and little control over what was going on. It does look like, in the final moments, he did try to fly the plane but it was having none of it.

How does the Pilot get pulled from that...

a reply to: Soloprotocol

It appears he went in quite flat - chances are the cockpit was relatively unscathed and possibly detached from the main fuselage.