Airshow crash families concerned by lack of access to protected evidence ahead of inquest
Families of victims of the Shoreham Airshow disaster risk going into the inquest ‘blind’ without seeing protected evidence, their lawyer has argued.
At a pre-inquest review last Wednesday, Gerard Forlin QC said ‘alarm bells were ringing’ over evidence seen by pilot Andy Hill and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), but not the victims’ families.
“I would submit that it’s too early to narrow down the scope of the inquest but we simply do not know what’s out there,” he said.
“How many more types of documents are out there that the families have a right to see?”
Mr Forlin argued an independent expert should look at the evidence held by the AAIB, including dash-cam footage of the 2015 crash, in which 11 men lost their lives, to decide if it should be made public.
West Sussex senior coroner Penelope Schofield said she understood the families’ frustrations, but until she decided what ground the inquest would cover there was no need to release all the evidence.
Mrs Schofield also responded to queries over her decision not to sit with a jury during the inquest, which is planned for September next year.
In February, she said last year’s criminal trial in front of a jury made a second assembly unnecessary.
Mrs Schofield added the families had failed to reach a consensus over whether one was needed, leaving the decision at her discretion.
Prior to the pre-inquest review, Captain Steven Colman – a Crawley-based pilot with 36 years’ experience – had argued a jury was needed for full scrutiny.
In particular, the 64-yearold said a jury would allow for the role of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a safety regulator to be fully scrutinised.
“I don’t accept that the CAA are not being held to account more fully,” he said. “They are not beyond reproach.”
Capt Colman argued the coroner was legally obliged to sit with a jury under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, as the airshow tragedy would be classed as a ‘notifiable accident’.
In March, 2019, Mr Hill was found not guilty of 11 charges of manslaughter by gross negligence following a lengthy trial. But Capt Colman said the trial had not determined any accountability on the part of the CAA.
A spokesman for the CAA said its thoughts were with the victims’ family and friends.
“Following the accident, a number of investigations, reviews and changes to regulations aimed at preventing any further similar accident took place,” said the spokesman.
“This included an immediate Civil Aviation Authority review of airshow safety and an Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigation.
“The changes made as a direct consequence of those investigations and reviews have all been completed and the Civil Aviation Authority continues to monitor the safety of civil air displays in the UK.”
The CAA is conducting its own investigation into the disaster, which it said was on target to be completed by September.
A date for the next preinquest review is to be agreed.