Shoreham Airshow - Hawker Hunter crash :(

P

Phal

Messages
1,297
Name
Etienne
Edit My Images
Yes
Album with a few more pics:https://www.flickr.com/photos/phal44/albums/72157657613566215



Pretty sad day overall. The Hunter was just getting going after flying in to the area and I got a few shots from the initial lowish pass

Low pass just before the loop by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Low pass just before the loop by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr


And then from a few year's experience there, I've learnt that most of the long distance pics when the plane is over the airport itself suck due to distance/heat haze etc so I'd stopped tracking the plane. Then I noticed he seemed to getting pretty low after his long high loop so I wanted to start tracking again and before I knew it I was looking at this through the lens

Hawker Hunter Crash by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

It seemed like a long time but in reality, it wasn't that long before the nearby Fire Brigade guys turned up

Fire Fighter at the scene by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

The first Air Ambulance did a pass over first and then landed nearby. Another arrived not long after and a Coastguard Rescue helo also appeared near the end

First Air Ambulance passing over the scene by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr


The aftermath of the jet hitting the westbound lanes of the a27 doesn't look great event from a mile or two away.

Aftermath 2 by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

Aftermath by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr
 
At least 7 dead :(
 
Just watched a video of the terrible event, shocking stuff and images. My condolences to those families who lost loved ones.
 
https://BANNED/PcBourne?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

b7gj0i.jpg
 
Unfortunately, these actually seem to be some of the clearest pictures of the tragic event on the net.
 
I stopped tracking as the plane was too far for decent pics and then tracked a little when it was at the high point of the loop just to see which direction he was going to go in. I saw he was doing a loop so I stopped tracking again until I saw he was pretty low so I wanted to get low shots but before I knew it this happened.

This all happened quite early into the Hawker's time slot so the emergency services were starting to get things under control when the Vulcan came in over the sea. It just did one pass over the area and then banked away and flew off back west. It seemed like a rather sombre flyby at the time :(
 
So tragic, thoughts go out to all this who have lost someone or been affected by this terrible accident.

You can actually see a car being missed by the fireball by a matter of metres - truly scary stuff! :(
 
Very sad news. RIP to all those who died.
 
Tragic!

I think some now say the engine stalled and moments before the plane broke apart, or at least I think that's what was said on the news from people who were in the cars on the main road. :(
 
Tony8 said:
So tragic, thoughts go out to all this who have lost someone or been affected by this terrible accident.

You can actually see a car being missed by the fireball by a matter of metres - truly scary stuff! :(
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw those. I can only try to imagine what it's like to see that in your rear view mirror. The building in the some of the pictures is a pub and there must have been people sat outside with a drink when this happened about 50 meters away from them! It could easily have been a lot worse with the large number of cars in traffic further up the road so I guess we can be thankful it wasn't worse.

PC Rachel Bourne's Twitter page had this added - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/air-accidents-investigation-branch so I've emailed them in case they would like to look at my stills.
 
arthurbikemad said:
Tragic!

I think some now say the engine stalled and moments before the plane broke apart, or at least I think that's what was said on the news from people who were in the cars on the main road. :(
Click to expand...

Yeah the plane was pointing in the right direction but just seemed to fall too much so a loss of power was my guess.
 
Etienne, those are incredibly shocking images. The Sussex Pad, which you mention is actually no longer a pub but used by lancing college as temporary dorms for students whilst theirs get upgraded.

Such sad sad news and I couldn't believe it when I heard what had happened. I left lancing at 4am yhis morning to get to north Yorkshire before traffic issues and it's scary to think how close that is to my home.

My thoughts and prayers are with all involved and affected.
 
I would remove these images from here and put a great big watermark on them and repost..................they will get lifted otherwise
 
An awful incident, and as others have said, some of the clearest images recording the event.
Sorry you had to witness it :(
 
Just got home from Shoreham , my thoughts are with those that died today. Rip
 
It now seems that thankfully pilot has somehow survived but with serious injuries, my thoughts are with him and others injured in this terrible accident.
Police are say the death toll may rise as they clear the site, lets hope they are wrong.

I finished work early and almost drove down to catch the Vulcan display, but decided sitting out in the heat wouldn't be fun, so glad I didn't.
 
shreds said:
Unfortunately, these actually seem to be some of the clearest pictures of the tragic event on the net.
Click to expand...
Seems now that pictures are emerging from those near to the event. Also an amazing one of the plane just over the trees nose up

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-wreckage-plane-crashes-Shoreham-Airshow.html


Phal said:
PC Rachel Bourne's Twitter page had this added - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/air-accidents-investigation-branch so I've emailed them in case they would like to look at my stills.
Click to expand...

Thanks you for sharing and for continuing to shoot. The different angles and clarity can only help the situation.
 
looking at the videos it looks like a stall, but credit to the pilot who tried to recover rather than ejecting.
 
Some of the pictures show the true horror, you have to feel for those who have lost in this, having such images all over is hard to deal with I know for a fact. But with 20,000 people and most would have cameras it was bound to throw up some of the event, but some of those, well, they are shocking.

Respect to the pilot who clearly tried all he could to save it, what a shame he couldn't.
 
Last edited:
andyscott said:
looking at the videos it looks like a stall, but credit to the pilot who tried to recover rather than ejecting.
Click to expand...
I think you will find that decommissioned RAF aircraft have their ejection systems removed or disabled when they leave the service to avoid pilotless aircraft continuing unmanned after ejection. I am presuming this was in that category, although in this case, one of the worst possible scenarios did occur.
 
andyscott said:
looking at the videos it looks like a stall, but credit to the pilot who tried to recover rather than ejecting.
Click to expand...
A nice thought but Im fairly certain he would have been trying very much to stay alive, ejecting after the point where it was apparent that the aircraft wasnt going to stay aloft wouldnt have been an option due to the split second timing.
 
shreds said:
I think you will find that decommissioned RAF aircraft have their ejection systems removed or disabled when they leave the service to avoid pilotless aircraft continuing unmanned after ejection. I am presuming this was in that category, although in this case, one of the worst possible scenarios did occur.
Click to expand...
Incorrect. Many aircraft including this particular one have live ejection systems.
Current regulations will make it difficult to obtain a certificate of airworthiness without "live" seats if the seats formed part of the original design of the aircraft
 
Last edited:
I note the position of the flaps, looks like the aircraft could have suffered control failure, you'd expect to see the aircraft set to pull up, I.e flaps up?
 
shreds said:
I think you will find that decommissioned RAF aircraft have their ejection systems removed or disabled when they leave the service to avoid pilotless aircraft continuing unmanned after ejection.
Click to expand...

A quick search would suggest you are wrong.
Are you allowed to have a live ejector seat in that plane?

Are you allowed to have a live airbag in your car?! Of course you are...It was designed with the seat as part of the aircraft. If you take the seat out what do you sit on? Would you fly without undercarriage or an engine? If the aircraft is aerobatic capable it is recommended by the CAA that you retain the live seats. In all cases the parachute must be operable. The canopy must be removable and in most jets you wont be able to remove the hood without some form of assistance and its usually incorporated into the ejection sequence. You will not be able to punch a hole in the canopy with your fists.

There have been many instances in the last few years where civilian registered ex military jets have fallen from the sky and the crew's lives have been saved by ejection seats.

Current regulations will make it difficult to obtain a certificate of airworthiness without "live" seats if the seats formed part of the original design of the aircraft.
Click to expand...

What are the rules and regulations?

Believe it or not there are no hard and fast rules. However if your jet has a swept wing or originally had an ejection seat fitted the chances of getting out of it when things go pear shaped are pretty remote unless you have a live seat.

Current regulations will make it difficult to obtain a certificate of airworthiness without "live" seats if the seats formed part of the original design of the aircraft.
Click to expand...


http://www.ejectorseats.co.uk/seat-regs.html
 
arthurbikemad said:
I note the position of the flaps, looks like the aircraft could have suffered control failure, you'd expect to see the aircraft set to pull up, I.e flaps up?
Click to expand...
Flaps are not hinged. They cant be move up or down. When deployed they increase surface area of the wing thus increasing the lift. They are deflected down to increase the effective curvature of the wing.
You are perhaps thinking of the elevators which ARE hinged and which move up when the stick is drawn back and down when the stick is pushed forward.
Looking at the attitude of the aircraft they would have been pretty useless as there was little forward speed compared to vertical speed so the airflow over the top is unlikely to have provided enough lift to make any difference.
 
arthurbikemad said:
Removed when decomissioned, for obvious reasons but that's all afaik.
Click to expand...
As a civilian aircraft this Hawker Hunter was originally operated by Jet Heritage, it operates under a CAA Permit to fly which describes the ejection system thus.....
  1. Martin-Baker type 4HA Mk 1 and 2 seats, Serial No: 19 and Serial No: 20 have been serviced in accordance with AP 109B-0131-12. The parachutes and survival packs have also been serviced in accordance with the relevant Air Publications. Ejection procedures and envelope are specified in the Aircrew Manual.

    Cartridges for the Aircrew Assisted Escape System have a 6 (six) year overall/shelf life and 2 (two) year installed life. For the fire suppressant system the cartridges have a 5 (five) year installed life. New cartridges for both system have been purchased and installed.
 
Simplythebeast said:
Incorrect. Many aircraft including this particular one have live ejection systems.
Current regulations will make it difficult to obtain a certificate of airworthiness without "live" seats if the seats formed part of the original design of the aircraft
Click to expand...

I'm afraid you are way off-beam with this. Ejector seats are decommissioned on aircraft leaving RAF and FAA service and going into private hands due to explosive licensing in the UK and explicit safety regulations. Vintage jets owned and operated by the RAF/RN obviously have people licensed to arm them and they remain unaffected.
 
I'm still reading 7 confirmed, with the limo driver and 2 cyclists thought to be killed too. But due to the ferocity of the impact and resulting fire they're having trouble finding let alone identifying bodies. Sadly I think it will get a lot worse by the end of the day :(
 
Blank_Canvas said:
I'm afraid you are way off-beam with this. Ejector seats are decommissioned on aircraft leaving RAF and FAA service and going into private hands due to explosive licensing in the UK and explicit safety regulations. Vintage jets owned and operated by the RAF/RN obviously have people licensed to arm them and they remain unaffected.
Click to expand...
You are wrong Blank....how do I know this? I am by trade an armament fitter with lots of experience of fast jet seats. Trained at RAF Halton and worked on a variety of aircraft types including the Hunter T7 and Buccaneers. Ive also spent time in the world of Civilian operations so Im absolutely confident that many civil jet aircraft utilise live ejection seats in order to comply with their operating licences. There are organisations who employ people like me to carry out the specialist role of ejection system servicing on civilian aircraft.
Those are the facts. I agree that they pale into insignificance when compared to casualties and the grief this incident has caused but the facts remain facts whatever.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top