Airshow Crash Was 'Horrifically Unlikely'

The deadly plane crash at the Shoreham Airshow was an event as likely to happen as being struck by lightning, according to an aviation expert.

Seven people died when the jet, believed to be a Hawker Hunter from the 1950s, hit several cars on the A27 in West Sussex before crashing into bushes .

The pilot is not among the dead, but he is fighting for his life in hospital.

Former pilot and RAF flying instructor David Learmount said such crashes are extremely rare.

"The chance of the airplane coming down actually on a road is horrifically unlikely," he said.

"Those people died in an event which is equivalent to being struck by lightning.

"The pilot wasn't aiming at the road and there's a lot of territory where the road isn't."

This is the second major incident at the Shoreham Airshow, which has been running for 26 years.

In 2007 experienced pilot and James Bond stuntman Brian Brown, 49, was killed when his WWII Hurricane crashed during an aerial display at the annual event.

No members of the public were injured when the the single-engine aircraft plunged into a field on the first day of the show.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report (AAIB) concluded that an unplanned manoeuvre likely caused the accident.

The report said Mr Brown had said ahead of the flying display that he would not be rolling the aircraft, but in the event he did so.

The AAIB recommended that manoeuvres should clearly be specified in advance of displays.

Mr Learmount said pilots take calculated risks at airshows because that is what people want to see.

"Airshows are the biggest spectator sport in this country - more people go live to airshows than go to football," he said.

"You could ban them but pilots taking calculated risks in exciting manoeuvres is what people want to see. I don't think the Civil Aviation Authority - who authorises the display routines - are going to change their mind.

"This is a gladiatorial display - that is what people go to see."

But he said the safety at such airshows is vigorously controlled.

"Nobody in the crowd that goes to see airshows gets hurt and usually nobody at all except the pilot is hurt," Mr Learmount said.

"All airshow routines are designed so they use the runway as a display line. Spectators have to be a certain distance from the display line and the aircraft are not allowed to fly over spectators."

Tim Loughton, the MP representing Shoreham, is among the supporters insisting the show has a good safety record.

"We mustn't rush to knee-jerk reactions about the safety of airshows," he told Sky News.

"This is an airshow that's been going for 26 years, only the second time there's been any serious accident, and the first time that spectators and people on the ground have been affected, bad though that is."

:: Police have set up a phone line for worried relatives on 01273 470101

:: Anyone with video or photos of the crash has been asked to email shoreham.airshow2015@sussex.pnn.police.uk to advise police what footage they have. Officers will then ask for images to be sent if they wish to see them