Airshow disaster pilot tells jury he was never ‘cavalier’
THE PILOT whose plane crashed during the Shoreham Airshow, killing 11 men, has dismissed claims he ever had a “cavalier attitude” to flying.
Speaking for the first time in public since the 2015 crash, Andrew Hill stood in the witness box as he gave evidence at his trial in the Old Bailey yesterday.
The 1950s Hawker Hunter fighter jet plunged to the ground and exploded in a fireball on the A27 in West Sussex after Hill attempted a loop on August 22. The 54-year-old, of Sandon, Buntingford, Hertfordshire, denies 11 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.
Prosecutors previously told the court the crash was due to “pilot error” and although Hill was normally considered “careful and competent”, he had taken “risks” in the past, suggesting he sometimes played “fast and loose” with the rules and may have had a “more cavalier attitude to safety than was appropriate”.
Karim Khalil QC, defending, asked Hill if he was a “cavalier” pilot.
He replied: “I would say I was probably one of the least people that applied to, in the sense that there are ways to be cavalier and some people are, some people are not. I believe I took a very structured, disciplined approach to it (display flying).”
The jury of seven women and four men listened as he told the court he sometimes held back from flights he was not comfortable with carrying out, adding: “We have our strengths and weaknesses.”
Referring to Hill’s final display which ended with “catastrophic” consequences, Mr Khalil asked if he intended to cause risk to anybody.
Hill replied: “Absolutely not, for a multitude of reasons. It was the primary aim of the display to avoid risk.”
Before being called to give evidence, the defendant – who gave his full name as Andrew Grenville Hill – spent much of the morning bending down in the dock, moving around and making notes.
As he began speaking in his defence Hill paused before telling the court his current state of health was “good”.
The hearing was told Hill flew in the RAF before becoming a commercial pilot.
The victims of the crash were: Maurice Abrahams, 76; Dylan Archer, 42; Tony Brightwell, 53; Matthew Grimstone, 23; Matt Jones, 24; Graham Mallinson, 72; Daniele Polito, 23; Mark Reeves, 53; Jacob Schilt, 23; Richard Smith, 26; and Mark Trussler, 54, who all lived in Sussex.
The hearing continues.