Tragedy At Shoreham Airport Airshow

[paddy237]

I was attending the Shoreham Airport Airshow or Battle Of Britain Royal Air Force Association Airshow as it is known and was unfortunately a witness to a tragedy involving one of the displaying aircraft and its pilot.

The pilot was involved in a simulated attack on a World War II airfield and in a dog fight with several other aircraft including Messerschmitts and Spitfires when the plane crashed near the airfield, killing the pilot.

http://www.worthingherald.co.uk/worthing/Tragedy-hits-Shoreham-Air-Show.3205139.jp

This link has full details of what happened.

My thoughts and that of my family are with the pilot of the crashed plane and his family.

[pete.cook]

It certainly is sad news Paddy. Thankfully incidents like this are rare, but it highlights the danger pilots are constantly in by providing us the opportunity to continue to see these glorious old warbirds still flying.

I'm sure all of our thoughts at this sad time are with his family.

[Deetz]

What a tragedy...:(

Deetz

[Skyraider3D]

S**t! Very sad news.

Turns out it was this Hurricane (http://skyraider3d.military-meshes.com/temp/777_hurricane.jpg)...

Condoleances to the family and friends of the pilot.

:(



To make matters worse I just found out that Colin McRae and his five year old son were involved in a fatal helicopter crash (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6996860.stm) as well.
This has turned into a very bad day...

[raf]

There seems to be a lot of accidents lately. An ugly one happened in Poland recently, killing two pilots:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20551061/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No1r1Z2-qso >>>GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING!<<<

Third pilot escaped flying remarkably close to the debris.

[Skyraider3D]

I've added a quick graphic content warning to that video link, as you can clearly see one of the pilots being thrown clear of the wreckage. Nasty indeed...

[JerryBoucher]

There was a crash at Reno earlier this week too, AFAIK.

[Zorin]

It certainly is sad news Paddy. Thankfully incidents like this are rare, but it highlights the danger pilots are constantly in by providing us the opportunity to continue to see these glorious old warbirds still flying.

I'm sure all of our thoughts at this sad time are with his family.

There, IMO, is a difference between flying them and having mock-up dogfights that serve no purpose at all. :frown:

If you have a 1930s car you don't race around with it, no, you only take it out for a cruise on a summer weekend and after that put it back in the garage.

That is what they should do with these planes.

[cobra6]

How sad. Read about some of these in the papers. Quite a shame to lose such a nice Hurricane also.

Cobra 6

[raf]

Now this is just freaky. Subaru rally team chief and good friend of McRae crash landed his helicopter today while returning from Belgian Grand Prix. Fortunately everybody is unhurt.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/6997784.stm

I don't think flying helicopters is for casual private pilots.

[pete.cook]

There, IMO, is a difference between flying them and having mock-up dogfights that serve no purpose at all. :frown:

If you have a 1930s car you don't race around with it, no, you only take it out for a cruise on a summer weekend and after that put it back in the garage.

That is what they should do with these planes.

While I agree with the idea Zorin, the accident in Shoreham shows that aircraft can do strange an unpredictable things at times. The planes would have been flown well within their limits, and certainly no where near the speeds they would have been in 1940, so in effect they were being flown in a manner similar to that you suggest with the car. The accident could easily have happened while the aircraft was performing a simple flyby.

[Zorin]

"Midway through the dogfight one of the planes, I'm not sure which one, literally, turned quite steeply, went into almost a straight dive and ploughed into a hill probably about a mile from the airfield."

Perhaps the forces on the controls during a mock-up dogfight of 9 planes was a bit too much for the nearly 60 years old elevator controls...

[kiwi123]

Obviously that's purely speculation. It could have been the pilot had a stroke, the plane hit a bird, and so on.

Yes it is horrible, but first and foremost because the pilot lost his life. The rest was just pieces of metal and linen, no matter how rare.
We should be extremely happy that flying these wonderful machines hasn't been made impossible by politicians and lawyers by now (who only care about money and coming up with new things to crusade about even when they're misinformed).

[Zorin]

Obviously that's purely speculation. It could have been the pilot had a stroke, the plane hit a bird, and so on.

Yes it is horrible, but first and foremost because the pilot lost his life. The rest was just pieces of metal and linen, no matter how rare.
We should be extremely happy that flying these wonderful machines hasn't been made impossible by politicians and lawyers by now (who only care about money and coming up with new things to crusade about even when they're misinformed).

Well, that is from an eye witness report. Guess that is as close as it gets. :confused:

But that is not the point. The pilot knew what he was doing and sure was aware of the risks he was taking. Doesn't make it less of a terrible loss, but yet no-one could say it came unexpected.

And a Rembrandt is only oil paint and plywood, but would you use it as firewood? Guess not.

MY point here is that they should keep the flying as simple as possible. No need for victory roles or dives or anything fancy. If you want to see that, stick to modern acrobatic planes.

[kiwi123]

Calm down, I'm not saying they should use a painting nor a plane as firewood. It's not like someone deliberately set fire to the hurricane. What I am saying is that the human tragedy involved far outweighs the machine loss.
I am not discounting your eyewitness report either, what I am saying is that the move you describe could have been caused in many ways, including a stroke or birdstrike.

[Skyraider3D]

Two comments.

1 - There are reports of loss of power prior to the crash. In a relatively heavy WW2 warbird, doing a low altitude display, this is very dangerous indeed.

2 - The people who pay for the restoration of these planes have every right to have them thrown around if they wish, if we like it or not. Perhaps in the future there will be rules for the protection of historic aircraft, but in the current situation this is not the case.
I sincerely doubt it was thrown around though. Pilots value their lives as well as their planes :)

[pete.cook]

Even the eyewitness reports vary from person to person. The ones I've read say the aircraft was flying straight and level before veering off to the left. If that is the case then the aircraft could have malfunctioned, and that malfunction could have just as easily occurred during a standard display flyby.

[Zorin]

Didn't mean to be harsh kiwi, sorry :(

I just don't get why there is the need to mistreat those machines and put them and their pilots lifes to such a high risk. :confused: :frown:

[cobra6]

Zorin has a point indeed. If they would restore a U-boat it is also not wise to see if the factory depth limit still applies. I would rather see it just sail or in drydock for that matter.
But indeed it could sink when it was hit by a whale, or something floating around. No telling, just as with the Hurricane

Cobra 6

[Skyraider3D]

But on what is this statement based? I for one have never seen a Hurricane being mistreaten on an airshow and I've been attending airshows on a very refular basis for 15 years. Mustangs and Spitfires are being thrown about a bit more usually, but everything has always been well within limits.

[pete.cook]

You have to remember that the regulations regarding airshow aircraft are incredibly strict. Technology has also been incorporated were necessary to keep the frames airworthy and within the regulations. I would argue that the aircraft used in air displays are probably in a better condition now than they were 60 years ago.

The BBMF Lancaster is a prime example. She's recently come out of an extensive inspection and repair period that lasted months.