Photo: Southport Airshow
Flying displays over land by vintage jet aircraft will be significantly restricted until further notice, the Civil Aviation Authority has said. The planes will be limited to flypasts, meaning ‘high energy’ aerobatics will not be permitted.
The new restrictions follow the deaths of up to 20 people, when an aircraft crashed into the A-27 on Saturday (August 22)
The Hawker Hunter jet was flying at over 150mph when it failed to pull up from a loop-the-loop stunt and it impacted with the road below.
Pilot Andrew Hill remains in critical condition in hospital.
A spokesperson for the CAA said: “We immediately began an urgent review and have, today, announced a series of immediate restrictions and changes to UK civil air displays.
“The CAA will conduct additional risk assessments on all forthcoming civil air displays to establish if additional measures should be introduced.”
Further details will be provided in the coming days.
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Shoreham air crash: Pilot ‘fighting for life’
People were taking pictures of the plane as it descended
The pilot of a jet which crashed into vehicles during Shoreham Airshow, leaving seven people dead, is in a critical condition, police say.
It was possible more bodies could be found as searches continue, Supt Jane Derrick of Sussex Police also said.
The pilot was taken by air ambulance to the Royal Sussex County Hospital and is “fighting for his life”, police said.
The Hawker Hunter jet crashed into the A27 in West Sussex at 13:20 BST as it was completing a loop manoeuvre.
“It is possible that tonight and tomorrow we are going to find more bodies at the scene,” said Supt Derrick.
Fourteen injured
She said Sussex Police had received about 40 calls from people concerned their relatives may have died or been injured in the crash.
South East Coast Ambulance Service said seven people died at the scene.
A further 14 people have been treated for minor injuries, one of whom this evening was released from hospital.
Eyewitness Archie Tipple was photographing the plane as it fell below roof top level
The plane crashed at about 13:20 BST
The Hawker Hunter is believed to have crashed after attempting a loop
The A27 was closed in both directions
The A27 is currently shut in both directions and is not expected to re-open for the “next couple of days”, police added.
Supt Derrick also apologised to drivers who were made to wait at the airfield while congestion cleared.
Earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron sent his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of those who died in the crash.
‘Quite sombre’
Eyewitnesses have been recalling seeing the plane fall and the subsequent explosions.
Archie Tipple, a spectator at the event, said the mood changed very quickly when people realised what happened.
“I was photographing the aircraft as it started its display and as it climbed and climbed and climbed I thought, this is pretty good.
“..but he was coming in a little bit low and I was still photographing it as it came down and then all of a sudden you just knew what was coming, and it just immediately changed, the atmosphere, from a festive one to something quite sombre,” he said.
Supt Jane Derrick (second left) was joined at a press conference by Nick Bunting from the Royal Air Forces Association, Mark Bailey from South East Coast Ambulance Service and Gavin Watts from West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service
Shoreham resident Dave Penwarden, 51, said he saw the plane explode.
“It just didn’t seem to have enough speed to come out of the loop, instead of powering out it dropped too fast and hit the ground.
“There was a massive fireball and an awful lot of smoke. Afterwards there was a stunned silence.”
It is the second incident at the Shoreham Airshow, one of the premier airshows in the UK, in recent years.
In September 2007 James Bond stuntman Brian Brown, 49, died when he crashed a World War Two Hurricane after carrying out an unplanned barrel roll at a re-enactment of the Battle of Britain.
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