Airshow disaster pilot manslaughter charge

THE pilot whose plane crashed in the Shoreham Airshow disaster, killing 11 men, will be charged with manslaughter by gross negligence, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced.

Andrew Hill also faces allegations of endangerment of an aircraft under air navigation laws after the vintage Hawker Hunter jet plummeted on to the A27 in West Sussex at 1.22pm on August 22 2015.

The crash occurred after the 1950s fighter bomber failed to pull out of a loopthe-loop and crashed into a fireball.

Hill, a trained RAF instructor and fast jet pilot, was thrown clear of the aircraft but taken to hospital with serious injuries and placed into an induced coma.

Simon Ringrose, of the CPS special crime division, announced the news to families of the victims at a private meeting in Lewes, Sussex, yesterday.

He said: “Following a careful review of the evidence I have found there is sufficient evidence to charge Andrew Hill with the manslaughter by gross negligence of the 11 men who died.

“I have also authorised a further charge against Mr Hill of endangering an aircraft, contrary to Article 137 of the Air Navigation Order 2009.”

Hill, who turns 54 today, is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on April 19.

He will be charged with 11 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence, an offence which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and one count of endangering an aircraft, which can incur a jail term of up to five years.