Posted on 08/23/2015 11:58:23 AM PDT by GreyFriar
Gym instructor and two footballers are named as first victims of airshow jet crash... and police reveal at least ELEVEN people were killed as new photographs emerge showing cars engulfed in flame
Fighter jet smashed into cars on busy road in front of thousands of horrified spectators at Shoreham Airshow At least 11 died, 14 were injured and the pilot, Andy Hill, has been left fighting for his life in critical condition
Read the entire story at link and see photographs
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Ping on yesterday’s crash of vintage Hawker Hunter at the Shoreham Airshow. Includes still photos from movie of planes’ sinking to ground behind trees and front view of plane.
Horrible yet spectacular pictures of the tragedy.
I’ve still got goosebumps from watching that knowing people died. That was horrible, amazing the pilot survived.
It looks like the pilot stayed with the plane and unsuccessfully attempted to steer clear of civilians on the ground.
He could have punched out early, but he didn’t.
yes, he could have bailed out but chose to try to keep the plane flying....and avoid the traffic on the highway.
One of the photos is of aircraft immediately before impact and it show pilot had elevated the nose in order to soften the landing somewhat.
The caption incorrectly claims he was trying to “gain altitude” but that possibility had been long lost.
Thanks for posting this update.
Over here Ping
I’m probably not the only one wondering why was this maneuver was done over a populated area. Could have done it over the runway.
Large balls award to the pilot for doing his best to avoid civilians. You can’t ask more.
It was being done over the airfield. the 4-lane highway was next to the airfield. See the map on the website. A case of either what to avoid or did he have any real control of the aircraft at that point. the crash investigation will have to resolve those questions.
Viewing the film, he was completing the loop that apparently began over the airfield and, due to radius required, he completed it outside the length of the airfield and was coming back over it when he went into the ground. He was flying toward the runway. Having seen many airshows at Andrews AFB and other USAF bases, jets require a much larger area to perform the aerobatics than propeller aircraft. The Thunderbirds use to complete part of their routines by ending up a couple of miles from the main runway at Andrews.
I could be wrong but it looked like it was a pretty controlled flight until the very end. My guess, and a guess is all it is, is that he started his maneuver at a lower than necessary altitude and didn’t realize it until the very end.
Maybe, could have been a high speed or accelerated stall as well ( my guess)
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071002025540AAi3DWf
I don’t believe pictures of people dying are spectacular.
An aerobatic box is one kilometer, cubed. Pilot was well within the box....'cept the bottom of it.
I don’t know. But it shows that the crash site was on a public road, away from the city proper. It will be up to the crash investigation team to answer your question. I can only say that during their performance, the T-birds from Andrews have flown over my house, 4 miles from the airfield.
You’re right. Sloppy research on my part.
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