Hawker Hunter Accident in Sussex. 7 dead, 14 injured, 1 in critical condition.

The Ender

A failed loop maneuver at an air show has resulted in an interceptor crashing into traffic on a road.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=31&v=pvHplYmh2f8





...It strikes me as really odd that the aircraft was performing that sort of maneuver over a civilian traffic corridor. Most air shows here involve the aircraft being well away from roads (and the crowd at the show) while it's doing anything riskier than flying level at cruising speed.

No word on whether or not the pilot got out, but it certainly doesn't look like it from the video footage.

Jazz

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/22/shoreham-air-show-crash-sussex-police-bodies

Seven dead. Police warn more bodies may yet be found.

The pilot (who was apparently an airline pilot, and thus was about as experienced and well trained as they come) was taken to the Royal Sussex Hospital where he is in a critical condition and fighting for his life.

Shocking and tragic disaster. RIP the deceased.

Suriko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjmglwWS3xU
I can't get over how British his reaction is; "Oh my word. Oh dear."

Certainly looks very low to be trying a stunt that saps a lot of airspeed and lacks a way to abort.

The Ender

Certainly looks very low to be trying a stunt that saps a lot of airspeed and lacks a way to abort.

Early reports are that the engine failed mid-stunt, and that the pilot was at what was normally considered a safe altitude for the loop (extra boldness on early reports of course)


EDIT: I have an annoyance with accidents like this - certain media outlets begin featuring talking heads that ask, "Is [X] activity really worth it if tragedies like this happen?"

Like, if we knew ahead of time that airshows would have an attrition rate of 7 deaths for every [X] performances or whatever, of course that's not worth it. But that's a Goddamn stupid question, and it's not the right framing:

Are the air shows currently safe? Yes. They have extremely low accident / injury / fatality rates in comparison to other spectator sports (especially vehicular sports).

Can we still improve safety? Probably also yes. Like, maybe we could consider only allowing stunts to occur in airspace that isn't in close proximity to roads or houses (and is at some middle-ground with regards to crowd safety, so the plane is very unlikely to ever go down into the crowd but is also close enough for the crowd to appreciate the spectacle).

Maybe we could also look at whether or not stunts with no realistic abort option when things go wrong should be included in future programs (there's precedent for barring certain formation flying patterns & a few really radical Immelmann variations).


But when it's as framed a binary extreme of 'THIS IS TOO RISKY, WE SHOULD BAN Y/N' rather than an activity that can be made more safe or less safe, people get really defensive and it shuts down constructive discourse.

Albino Bunny

You don't sell news with reasonable discussions of health and safety risks regretfully.

Calica

IANAP, but it looks to me like something went wrong on the back half of the loop, just after inversion. Instead of completing the loop, the plane continues in a straight line for a bit, downward and inverted. By the time it pulls "up" (i.e., toward the ground), it's too low.

My (highly speculative and unqualified) guess is that the pilot was distracted or disoriented or both for a crucial few heartbeats (maybe by engine failure, if that's what happened), and tried too late to finish the maneuver instead of rolling to right himself.

For what it's worth, I grew up with basically a backstage pass to one of the world's largest airshows, and I've seen this stunt done hundreds of times by a lot of different aircraft. That and $5 will get you a coffee, obviously :P

Elvenshae

In my life, I've known 2 stunt pilots.

One died when he presumably blacked out during a solo practice session, followed by crashing into a field.

The other, his partner and part-owner of the first airplane, died while performing during an air show; I forget the specific cause. Her son was her show announcer, and kept up a running commentary for the crowd while the rescue crews ran out to recover his mother.