Seat maker’s guilt over Red Arrow death

THE makers of an ejector seat which threw a Red Arrows pilot to his death admitted breaching health and safety laws yesterday.

Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham ( pictured) was unexpectedly ejected from his Hawk T1 aircraft as he carried out preflight checks while still on the ground at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. The parachute on the Mark 10B ejector seat then failed to open and he came crashing to the ground.

Martin-Baker Aircraft Ltd director John Martin pleaded guilty at Lincoln Crown Court on behalf of the Middlesex-based company to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The maximum punishment is a jail term of up to two years and an unlimited fine.

An inquest into Iraq veteran Flight Lieutenant Cunningham’s death in 2014 heard how he was catapulted over 200ft into the air on November 8, 2011, and hit the ground with ‘tremendous’ force.