News Red Arrows pilot killed in incident at RAF Scampton

[garyw]

A Red Arrows pilot has died after being ejected from an aircraft at the aerobatic team's base in Lincolnshire.


The RAF confirmed that the pilot was ejected from a Hawk T1 jet while it was on the ground at RAF Scampton.
The Military Aviation Authority is carrying out an independent inquiry to determine the cause of the incident.


Gp Capt Simon Blake said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends and colleagues at this difficult time."
The pilot's family have been told and have asked for a period of grace until his name is released.


Gp Capt Blake said: "It would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause of the incident until that inquiry is complete. The investigation will determine the facts."


Lincolnshire Police earlier confirmed they were attending an incident at Scampton, but did not comment further.
East Midlands Ambulance crews were called to the scene at about 11:09 GMT, along with the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance.

Of course, this comes a few months after Lt. Eggings death at the Bournemouth airshow.


More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15640104

 

[Loru]

Maybe those Hawks T1 are getting too old for this stuff.

 

[bujin]

It's been a really bad year! Only six fatalities between 1969 and 2010, and now two fatalities in less than three months.

I suspect this will provide the UK Government all the ammunition it needs to disband the Red Arrows to "save money", as some politicians have been wanting for the last couple of years.

 

[garyw]

I suspect this will provide the UK Government all the ammunition it needs to disband the Red Arrows to "save money", as some politicians have been wanting for the last couple of years.

I hope it won't come to that but there have been a few noises that way already. Only time will tell I guess.

 

[Fabri91]

Sad to hear! At first I thought it was the thread about the last incident being resurrected due to news pertaining to that event, but it isn't so.

 

[FordPrefect]

Sad to hear! At first I thought it was the thread about the last incident being resurrected due to news pertaining to that event, but it isn't so.

Dito! I thought the same, sadly, it wasn't the case.
2011 is not a good year in airshow business.

Saw the Red Arrows many times in Europe on airshows live, always liked their show, great flying.

May the team and its supporters keep the spirit up!

 

[Spacethingy]

Well, if you compare with the Blue Angels/Blue Impulse/Thunderbirds etc. etc., for example, the planes aren't actually that old.

I'm wondering whether it's the ejector seat? Anyway, it is dodgy "to speculate", so personally I'm going to wait for more info.

Thoughts with his family.

 

[Fozzy]

Always sad the dead of a human being, rest in peace.

 

[garyw]

MoD flight suspension after Red Arrows ejector seat death

Training flights in aircraft fitted with ejector seats like the one in which a Red Arrows pilot was killed on Tuesday have been suspended.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) grounded the flights following the death of Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, 34, at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

Other RAF aircraft fitted with MK10 ejector seats are Hawk T1, Tornado and Tucano.

The MoD said: "The safety of our crews remains our paramount concern."

It added: "All non-essential RAF flying on aircraft fitted with a similar ejector seat to the Hawk T1 has been temporarily suspended."

It said the suspension was "pending further investigation and purely as a precautionary measure."

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15655865

 

[Spacethingy]

Seems to be heading towards an ejector seat problem.

How sad and tragic if the death was caused by something supposed to save lives.

 

[garyw]

Seems to be heading towards an ejector seat problem.

How sad and tragic if the death was caused by something supposed to save lives.

I agree. It's an interesting turn of phrase in the article:

Group Captain Simon Blake said: "The pilot was ejected from the aircraft whilst the aircraft was on the ground."

'The pilot was ejected' - not 'the pilot choose to eject' or 'the pilot was forced to eject' but 'the pilot WAS ejected' which appears to me to say that the ejection wasn't pilot initiated.

Note - this is just hand waving speculation based upon the choosen language.

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, it could also have strong implications for other cases: There are some German tornado crews that ejected fatally in low altitude missions.