Shoreham air crash

[Rob_B]

Jesus, I mean... jesus....imagine driving along and a Hawker Hunter hits the carriageway.

My condolences to anyone who lost someone, sounds like the toll may increase as well.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...-police-bodies

[Zak33]

My heartfelt condolences go to the deceased and their families and the injured....physically and mentally injured. It's a truly sad day. To be a spectator at an air show with a disaster is bad bad enough. To be in the line of danger at an airshow is worse.

But now we have a problem....to be an innocent member of the public going to Tesco stopped at traffic lights and be wiped out by an airshow is something v different.

How's it going to pan out? In 2007 the dreadful loss of the Hurricane pilot and plane on a non planned barrel roll at Shoreham was lucky enough to not hit the public. This Hunter was below the line of buildings in this emergency before wiping out the traffic lights.

I love an airshow more than most. But I loved GroupB supercars too.

Where they perform relative to the public on non standard manoeuvres needs review.

Truly hope no other victims were taken in that fireball. Not that you'd really find much I doubt.

Saddest of sad days. For the victims. And for a,family day out that our country is famous for...the Airshow

[GoNz0]

Not a good track record at Shoreham either. i think this may be the end of the airshow as we know it. I get the feeling they will only be allowed to perform stunts over unpopulated areas such as the lincolnshire RAF bases.
I am no pilot nor expert before I get flamed but he started that loop low in the 1st place so from what I can see he has virtually zero margin for error at those speeds.

[peterb]

No doubt the Air Accident Investigation team will make its recommendations in due course, but one consequence may be that the cost of insuring such shows over populated areas may be a deciding factor.

It is difficult to see from the released video, but it looks as if the pilot was able to keep clear of a housing area, and looked as there was an element of control. To survive an accident like that is remarkable.

But the real wake up call is the randomness of the deaths of those who had nothing to do with show, as Zak said, those just out shopping and going about their everyday business. But then , in effect is that any different from the random car crash or other unexpected death?

A sad day though, obviously for the victims and their families, and also for aviation.

[TheAnimus]

As Peterb says, the random death on the road thing isn't really that shocking you are still more likely to be hit by another car and die, than by an aerobatic display.

Obviously something went very wrong, but the pilot was really seconds from the airport and the runway, this was tragic and possibly one of the worst outcome that could have happened. The uncut video shows just how much downforce is still acting as the pilot pitches up.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I was there at the airshow on the side of runway and saw it as it happened!

He was on the last leg of completing a loop sequence.

It was a really warm day with a bit of wind blowing towards the aircraft,and it wouldn't surprise me if this cause some issues. For one thing at higher temperatures,there is less lift.

[sammyc]

"Public shouldn't expect manoeuvres from old planes.

People expect to see "barrel rolls and loop the loops" at air shows despite the age of some of the planes involved, says aviation journalist Nicholas Hair.

He said although ex-military aircraft do have a longer shelf-life than commercial aircraft, the public should be "a bit more sensitive" to the age of "museum pieces" participating in air shows."

One person's perspective, granted, but "the public demand risk-taking" wouldn't carry you very far with me as a basis for pushing safety in any field.

[TheAnimus]

QNH was 1014mb, so not that unusual, 28°C, with observed 11kt wind from 110°

The video shows the guy exiting the loop close to the ground. I don't know if it was planned that low, or he had too much speed in the latter half, couldn't get the trust or control surfaces to respond, there is so much that it could be sadly. I'm sure the AAIB will follow it up, until then there doesn't appear to be anything obvious.

[TheAnimus]

"Public shouldn't expect manoeuvres from old planes.

People expect to see "barrel rolls and loop the loops" at air shows despite the age of some of the planes involved, says aviation journalist Nicholas Hair.

Well he is a dimwhit who I'm sure has never met an A&P.

Having safely done then in a 70 year old craft I can tell you he doesn't know what he is talking about. Every nut & bolt is checked and inspected, it has to be for a 2 year old that is flown a lot, as much as it does a 60 year old that has flown a lot recently too.

Why do the media find the most unqualified idiots for these things.

[sammyc]

For the sake of clarity, I'm not disputing if safety was/is ever compromised at these events. Purely that I have no idea why someone would cite public pressure as having any bearing, theoretical or otherwise.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The planes are maintained to a high standard and all the pilots are very experienced. On top of this,certain planes like Vulcan were only permitted to fly if certain maneuvers were not performed.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Someone noticed this on another forum:

http://i.imgur.com/PqDuc3G.png
http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/arti...est-Sussex.jpg

[TheAnimus]

For the sake of clarity, I'm not disputing if safety was/is ever compromised at these events. Purely that I have no idea why someone would cite public pressure as having any bearing, theoretical or otherwise.

The problem is the guy you are quoting is wrong about everything he says. There are many commercial craft that have a much, much longer service lifespan for everything from engine to airframe than mil ones.

He is an idiot who wants his media attention, and sadly the media give to these idiots because they say shocking and scary things which is what they want. This is a brilliant example, they manage to get almost everything wrong.... http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/video/...ane/vi-AA8OwRK
My favourite is the 'alarm from the collision warning system'.... They really have no clue what they are talking about.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Had a looksy at some of my pictures,I don't see any indications of a fuel leak.

Edit!!

Wait,I did see some plume once I upped the contrast.

Second Edit!!

It seems to be happening on the bottom part of the roll.

[Rob_B]

I couldn't see what you meant by those pictures (on a phone) until you mentioned fuel, now I see it. Would that cause this though?!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I tried mucking around my pictures,but didn't take many since I was more interested in watching the display and only gettting the close flyby pictures.





It only appears to be on the bottom part of the roll,and I suspect the picture of the underside which was posted was someone on the outside of the field.

Its very faint though.