Air Display Crashes

[Chris Allman]

There has been another fatal plane crash following the one at the CarFest in Oulton Park, Cheshire last month. This time as you probably have all heard, it is at Shoreham on Sea and has resulted in the deaths of seven people who were not even at the show but just driving by on the A27 near to the airport. My thoughts are with their families and friends.

What do members think, should these shows continue or are they beginning to prove to be too much of a danger to the public. Both planes involved in the different crashes were old planes, should they still be performing aerobatics or should they be restricted to fly pasts or circuits. The Oulton Park plane was, I understand, an ex Red Arrows Gnat having first flown in 1962, some 53 years ago, and was in private ownership. The RAF had obviously disposed of it, so should it have continued performing aerobatics. The Hawker Hunter of today's crash was 60 years old and first flew in 1955, again in private ownership.

Its lovely to watch these old aircraft fly but should they be performing aerobatics at their age or should they be restricted to flybys and circuits only.

[John Pruden]

this type happening to many times chris.. is it a money thing to that area the dangers are to much. it reminds me of the TT races they know people will loose their lives on the race but money over rides safety I would like to know how many have died and if any other so called sport looses that many lives it would have been stopped years ago? just my view jp

[Jim Brady]

Chris as you know we have the Southport Air Show and also sometimes at Woodvale I would never take my kids to these events because of the amount of accidents at these displays over the years.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Doc Vernon]

I agree that there are far too many of these happening of late,and although they are Spectacular and most all the Public love to watch ,it is getting far too dangerous nowdays,with the Pilots trying to do better and much more difficult maneuvers which for some older type Aircraft is just pure crazy! Death Wishes I think some may have!
And as said the Public is put at too much risk at these Aerobatic displays,unless a more secure method is found by say Flying a longer way out from the actual Airspace but still close enough for all to see! ?? Its a hard one !
Cheers

But must say that most of those Pilots are tremendous,and must be fully fit too!
The G Force of some of those moves must be at times quite awful, and that is the time when they are at greatest risk! Passing out in the Cockpit!

Cheers

[Jacyn Wade]

Will weigh in on this as my husband has been a pilot, aircraft mechanic and builder and restorer of antique aircraft for over 45 years. He has watched the video and could immediately tell that the aircraft stalled - a high speed stall. This particular manoeuvre is not considered hard aerobatics so shouldn't have been an issue. It is more than likely not the fault of the aircraft, but of the pilot, either due to simple pilot error or pilot incapacitation. Given the G loads the pilot was going through in this manoeuvre, it's quite possible he greyed out and didn't come to again until it was too late. We also don't know how old he was. Age becomes a factor when pulling high G loads.

British aviation rules are among the tightest in the world, which means that these aircraft would not be flying at air shows unless they were certified airworthy. As long as they are properly maintained, there is no reason why these planes cannot perform to their specifications. Even under private ownership, the maintenance requirements would not change.

If one really thinks about it, there are far more car accidents than there are plane crashes. It's just that we don't hear about all of them the way we do plane crashes; there would no room for any other news if every car accident was reported. While these crashes are tragic, nine times out of ten, they are caused by pilot error, not the aircraft. Ultimately, there's no way to know until the investigation is complete.

My two cents...
Jacyn

[Doc Vernon]

I bow to your superior knowledge on this Jacyn!
Cheers

[Ivan Cloherty]

A sensible 2 cents Jacyn, thank you

[Keith Tindell]

What i find amazing is that according to the BBC report, the pilot, although very seriously ill is still alive, incredible if true. They have said today that the death toll could be higher than 7, as the search continues, KT

[Captain Kong]

The News said he was an ex RAF Tornado Pilot and an ex British Airways Pilot, so he was experienced.
Brian

[Ivan Cloherty]

Watching one of the news channels it looks like he ejected just before the plane hit the ground, I doubt he would have survived in that ball of fire had he not ejected.