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Plane crashes onto A27 at Shoreham Air Show

1927 said:
Which suggests that the pilot stayed at the controls in an attempt to avert a bigger disaster at the possible cost of his own life.
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Very plausible - there have been loads of cases of pilots doing exactly this.
 
I'm fairly sure there would have been no time here between being absolutely certain of a crash and the crash itself in which to command an ejection, let alone actually get ejected, which takes a little time.

Plus you probably decide what you will do in those circumstances before you even get into the thing.
 
mauvais said:
I'm fairly sure there would have been no time here between being absolutely certain of a crash and the crash itself in which to command an ejection, let alone actually get ejected, which takes a little time.

Plus you probably decide what you will do in those circumstances before you even get into the thing.
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Pilot error already being suggested: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/avi...odies-continues-as-11-feared-dead-latest.html

He is apparently in a coma (not sure if it's induced). A former flight instructer has stated the pilot was "showing off" and a "lunatic" guilty of flying too low and recklessly.
 
redcogs said:
Pilot error already being suggested: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/avi...odies-continues-as-11-feared-dead-latest.html

He is apparently in a coma (not sure if it's induced). A former flight instructer has stated the pilot was "showing off" and a "lunatic" guilty of flying too low and recklessly.
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These people strike me as deeply unprofessional and not to be taken seriously. Again possibly you can blame the Telegraph rather than the supposed source. Either way, wait for the AAIB.
 
kebabking said:
in relation to the ejector seat, my understanding from pictures and reports is that the fuselage broke in two immediately behind the cockpit upon impact with the ground, with the cockpit/nose shooting off forward, and the rest of the airframe - and all the fuel - staying where it hit the ground. the pilot was then rescued from the cockpit by people on the ground, so the ejector seat was not activated.
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It would also depend on the model variant as some had armour plating behind and beneath the cockpit, this may have been a reason for the pilot and cockpit being blown/torn away from the fuselage on impact.

As for approaching downed aircraft we were told at school not to go near any as there was then chance of death by ejector seat deployment.
We were quite close to the runway end at finningley and had Vulcans scrambling several times a week!
 
Favelado said:
Yeah but airshows are a somewhat superfluous event. Music festivals more key to national culture. We could manage without airshows, but not music festivals.
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Sadly I can remember when Whitby Folk week started with a display by the Red Arrows every year. Though it was held over the sea it was often marred by people falling off the cliff tops or harbour wall trying to get a better look.
 
Sprocket. said:
Sadly I can remember when Whitby Folk week started with a display by the Red Arrows every year. Though it was held over the sea it was often marred by people falling off the cliff tops or harbour wall trying to get a better look.
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lol
 
mauvais said:
Another Hunter display pilot has written a long & informative post about what the AAIB will be doing, how safety works and what the Hunter is like to fly.

https://www.facebook.com/MissDemeanourOfficial/posts/869126783174965
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That's a rather panglossian view of the Hunter's flying characteristics. Perhaps he has a vested interest in the continuation of Hunter display flying?

The Avon engine was rather ill suited to the Hunter's intake geometry and this resulted in surges, compressor stalls and flameouts if one were abrupt with the throttle at high AoA or G. They ended up having to derate the Avon and reduce fuel flow whenever the cannon were fired. They probably would have been better served to persist with the Sapphire engined variant (F.2) but the RAF wanted engine commonality with the Canberra. The Hunter did not have vice free handling and, in that respect, was markedly inferior the aircraft it replaced in RAF service - the F-86.
 
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The AAIB have published a special bulletin (interim report) documenting the circumstances of the accident, that the pilot was thrown free of the cockpit (it is not clear if any ejection was initiated) and that the plane was apparently responding correctly to inputs (judging from cockpit video). Investigations continue.
 
2hats said:
The AAIB have published a special bulletin (interim report) documenting the circumstances of the accident, that the pilot was thrown free of the cockpit (it is not clear if any ejection was initiated) and that the plane was apparently responding correctly to inputs (judging from cockpit video). Investigations continue.
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Is that 'code' for pilot error, then?
 
brogdale said:
Is that 'code' for pilot error, then?
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I wouldn't think that report has any "code" for anything just yet. It just suggests to me that they have ruled out any kind of gross malfunction with the aircraft.

There is a very long and extremely painstaking process still to happen before anyone's going to be publishing any conclusions, in code or otherwise :)
 
brogdale said:
Hmm..."telegraph'" has people prepared to say otherwise.
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Well, it is getting the opinions of people who are drawing inferences from the facts stated in the interim report, yes. But the report is very clearly not making any conclusions - merely reporting the facts as known.

We might all agree that, given the facts, the pilot may indeed have made an error, but an AAIB report isn't just about finding someone to point the finger at, and stopping there. They are going to want to know what prompted any such error, what else was going on, etc., etc.

Which is why they aren't speculating about anything yet.
 
The special bulletin indicates that the altitudes are not clearly known and they are undertaking photogrammetric analysis of the stills and video they have received in order to better understand the flight path.
 
Yeah but looks like they will clear the plane (good news for other Hunter owners) If it was engine failure they'd know off the cockpit video. Is gearing up to be pilot error
 
Citizen66 said:
Unless the pilot became incapacitated. Which isn't necessarily an error on his part.
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I've found aviation medics to be the best in business. Dr Cramond RIP Defined an alcoholic as someone who drank more than his doctor - and you bastards have got me up to 2bottles of scotch a day to keep you flying. :) He saved my hearing.
Straight loop hardly untoward if medically fit, and he'd have had to lie his arse off to have got the sign-off if you want to blame the Doctor
 
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gosub said:
I've found aviation medics to be the best in business. dr Cramond Sir. Defined an alcoholic as someone who drank more than his doctor - and you badtards have got me up to 2bottles of scotch a day to keep you flying. :) He saved my hearing.
Straight loop hardly untoward if medically fit, and he'd have had to lie his arse off to have got the sign-off if you want to blame the Doctor
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Doctor can't predict cardiac arrest or stroke for example. Wild speculation of course, but not implausible.
 
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