Red Arrows airman is killed in fireball horror
AN RAF engineer was killed yesterday when the Red Arrows jet he was travelling in crashed in a fireball.
The pilot, thought to be Flight Lieutenant David Stark, ejected safely and was last night being treated in hospital.
The dead airman, who has not been named, was one of a team of engineers, known as The Blues, each assigned to a Red Arrows pilot.
They are responsible for servicing the Hawk aircraft before each display, and during transit flights they travel in the back seat of their pilot’s jet.
It is understood that yesterday’s crash took place as the aircraft was travelling from RAF Valley in North Wales to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, where the Red Arrows is normally based.
The jet crashed at 1.30pm soon after take-off from RAF Valley, where Prince William served as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot from 2010 to 2013.
Witnesses said the Hawk appeared to be heading back to the runway when the pilot ejected and the plane crashed.
Sian Williams, an 18-year-old student, said: ‘It did a loop and flew towards the runway and looked like it was about to land. I saw the parachute of one pilot open and then the plane hit the runway with a bang and a crumbling noise.
‘Then it just burned bright orange and there was smoke everywhere.’
She said the RAF Valley fire crew arrived quickly and put the blaze out before an air ambulance arrived. Charles Round, from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, said he saw ‘thick, billowing clouds of black smoke’, adding: ‘I could clearly see there was an aeroplane on fire on the runway.’
Howard Rigby, who was playing golf nearby, said: ‘I could see a ball of flame and a parachute.’
The RAF urged witnesses to provide photographs or footage of the crash, tweeting: ‘Any images may help with an investigation.’ Flt Lt Stark is a new member of the Red Arrows, having previously piloted Tornado GR4 aircraft.
Known by the call sign Red 3, the 35year- old was born in Geneva, Switzerland, before moving to the UK. He joined the RAF in 2005.
Red Arrows spokesman Group Captain Nick Tucker-Lowe said: ‘It is with great sadness that the RAF can confirm the death of an engineer from the RAF Aerobatics Team.
‘ The engineer’s family have been informed. The pilot survived and is receiving medical treatment.’
The tragedy is the first major accident to hit the display team since 2011, when two pilots died in separate incidents.
It brings the total number of Red Arrows personnel killed in operational incidents to 11 since 1965, when the team was set up.