TOO LOW & TOO SLOW
Pilot’s stunt error led to fireball crash at airshow
THE pilot who crashed at Shoreham Airshow was flying “too low and too slow” to pull off a stunt manoeuvre, a report has found.
Andy Hill’s error was among blunders that led to 11 people being killed and 16 injured in 2015, investigators said yesterday.
Air Accidents Investigation Branch’s final report into the disaster also criticised show organisers, saying “measures to protect the public were not effective”.
Hill, 52, was attempting a loop-the-loop in his 1955 Hawker Hunter aircraft when it slammed into traffic on the A27 in west Sussex.
AAIB’s Julian Firth said: “The aircraft crashed because at the top of its aerobatic manoeuvre it was too low to complete it.
“It was too low because the speed at which it entered the manoeuvre and the amount of engine power used as it climbed were not sufficient. “The reasons the results of this crash were so disastrous is that measures to protect the public were not effective.”
AAIB spent 18 months analysing aircraft data, radar images and spectator footage from the crash in August 2015.
Hill, who was thrown from the fuselage and survived, claimed to have no memory of the crash.
He told investigators he would normally reach 3500ft at the top of the stunt. His plane only reached 2700ft. The height and speed were more suitable for a Jet Provost aircraft, which Hill had flown more often.
Firth added: “A possible error path was the pilot recalled the wrong numbers, mixing up the two aircraft.”
AAIB found also a “lack of clarity” about who was responsible for show safety.
While aircraft were not allowed to fly directly over spectators, there was no such protection for surrounding areas.
And the Civil Aviation Authority do not require risk assessments before giving permission to displays.
The report made 11 recommendations, adding to 21 since the crash, and concluded: “No organisation or individual considered all the hazards associated with the display.” Caroline Schilt, whose son Jacob died with pal Matt Grimstone, both 23, said: “The organisers weren’t breaking regulations, they simply weren’t in place.”
Matt’s dad Phil added: “The organisers have a lot to answer for and someone needs to be held accountable for the crash.”
Hill, of Buntingford, Hertfordshire, has been interviewed under caution in a Sussex Police manslaughter probe. He was not at his home yesterday.
The airshow’s organisers said the report “clearly confirms a series of errors by an experienced and fully authorised pilot were the cause of the tragic crash”.
They said they “worked hard to ensure the event was safe and successful”, adding: “Our main aim in 2015 was to do just that but there are findings in the report that will require further analysis and reflection.”
Organisers have a lot to answer for. Someone needs to be held accountable PHIL GRIMSTONE