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| Plane's age will not be to blame for Shoreham air show crash, expert claims | Plane's age will not be to blame for Shoreham air show crash, expert claims |
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| A former pilot and RAF flying instructor has claimed the investigation into the Shoreham air show crash in which seven people died would conclude that it was not caused by the age of the plane. | A former pilot and RAF flying instructor has claimed the investigation into the Shoreham air show crash in which seven people died would conclude that it was not caused by the age of the plane. |
| “The chance of the airplane coming down actually on a road is horrifically unlikely,” David Learmount said. “Those people died in an event which is equivalent to being struck by lightning. The pilot wasn’t aiming at the road and there’s a lot of territory where the road isn’t.” | “The chance of the airplane coming down actually on a road is horrifically unlikely,” David Learmount said. “Those people died in an event which is equivalent to being struck by lightning. The pilot wasn’t aiming at the road and there’s a lot of territory where the road isn’t.” |
| On Saturday the aircraft, a Hawker Hunter jet reportedly from the 1950s, crashed into four cars on the A27 at Shoreham in West Sussex after it failed to pull out of a loop manoeuvre. The pilot was flown to the Royal Sussex hospital where he is in a critical condition, and police said the bodies of more victims may be discovered as investigators and emergency services continue to search the scene of the incident. | |
| The Hawker Hunter was listed in the air show programme as being flown by former RAF Harrier pilot Andy “Hilz” Hill, whose day job is as an Airbus captain for a major airline. | The Hawker Hunter was listed in the air show programme as being flown by former RAF Harrier pilot Andy “Hilz” Hill, whose day job is as an Airbus captain for a major airline. |
| Well known for his aerobatic and air show display work, Hill is described by those in the industry as “a very experienced formation instructor and display pilot”. | Well known for his aerobatic and air show display work, Hill is described by those in the industry as “a very experienced formation instructor and display pilot”. |
| Learmount, consulting editor of Flightglobal magazine, predicted that the Air Accidents Investigation Branch would not find that the age of the plane was to blame. “It will not be because this Hunter was too old,” he said. “We have actually got footage right down to the point of impact. A wing didn’t fall off. It’s a misjudgement.” | |
| Aviation expert Julian Bray made a similar prediction. “I don’t think the age of the aircraft had anything to do with the crash,” he said. “A number of things could have happened. For example, there’s a phenomenon called the false horizon, where doing manoeuvres near the sea means your visual horizon plays tricks with the brain. The pilot might have got his horizons wrong. The aircraft should have been 500ft above the ground and it certainly wasn’t. The other possibility is the engine actually flamed out at one point and the pilot was trying to restart it while he was doing the loop.” | |
| In the past five years, there have been at least 10 incidents of planes crashing at air shows in the UK. On 1 August, Kevin Whyman, a Royal Air Force-trained jet pilot, was killed in a crash at the CarFest motoring event in Cheshire after his Folland Gnat aircraft failed to pull out after performing a low-level, close-proximity pass. In 2011, pilot Jon Eggings died after his Red Arrows Hawk T1 jet crashed during an air show in Bournemouth. | |
| However, Learmount said that safety at air shows was vigorously controlled and fatalities involving people other than pilots are extremely rare. “Nobody in the crowd that goes to see air shows gets hurt and usually nobody at all except the pilot is hurt. All airshow routines are designed so they use the runway as a display line. Spectators have to be a certain distance from the display line and the aircraft are not allowed to fly over spectators,” he said. | |
| Learmount said that pilots take calculated risks at air shows because that is what people want to see. “Air shows are the biggest spectator sport in this country – more people go live to air shows than go to football. | |
| “You could ban them but pilots taking calculated risks in exciting manoeuvres is what people want to see. I don’t think the Civil Aviation Authority, who authorises the display routines, are going to change their mind. This is a gladiatorial display – that is what people go to see.” | “You could ban them but pilots taking calculated risks in exciting manoeuvres is what people want to see. I don’t think the Civil Aviation Authority, who authorises the display routines, are going to change their mind. This is a gladiatorial display – that is what people go to see.” |
| Bray added: “The popular knee-jerk reaction will be we should ban airshows, but it’s very rare for such a crash to take place. Airshows are actually quite safe because the only person that is at risk is the pilot, rather than spectators. They put in a number of safety measures: you wont find any manoeuvres over crowds, they’re done at a distance so that if a plane does come down it won’t come down on other people. Every precaution is taken. It’s a choreography. They practice and practice and practice. It is very tightly controlled.” | |
| Former AAIB senior inspector of aircraft accidents Anne Evans said investigators would be looking at whether there were any problems with the aircraft or not. “It’s too early to determine the cause of the crash, but investigators will look at the aircraft, as well as all the history of accidents at airshows. There are obviously regulations about what displays pilots can do,” she said. | |
| The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement: “The thoughts of everyone at the CAA are with all of those affected by the tragic accident at the Shoreham Airshow. We will be offering every assistance to the Air Accident Investigations Branch as it seeks to establish the cause in the coming weeks. | |
| “The safety standards that must be met by all major civil air displays in the UK are among the very highest in the world. All air display arrangements, including the pilots and aircraft, must meet rigorous safety requirements that are kept under active review. Individual display pilots are only granted approval following a thorough test of their abilities.” |