No word on circumstances or pilot's condition, AAIB indicates it's a DH53. I hear the air show has been cancelled.

BBC News - Vintage plane crashes at air show in Bedfordshire (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-18664332)

DM very quick at naming casualty.

RIP etc.

BREAKING NEWS: Pilot killed after historic aircraft crashes in front of 600 stunned spectators at airshow | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2167205/BREAKING-NEWS-Pilot-killed-historic-aircraft-crashes-600-stunned-spectators-airshow.html)

Very sorry to hear this news. Have spent many a happy day at Shuttleworth at their shows.

Condolences to all.

Sad to hear.
Surprised they were flying today with the wind here, can only think conditions N of London much better than in the S.

Very sad indeed. Spent many a summer watching these displays.
Will be greatly missed.

BBC News - Pilot dies after vintage plane crashes in Bedfordshire (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-18664332)

"The Shuttleworth Collection confirmed in a statement on its website that an aircraft had experienced difficulties and crashed. "Emergency services and the air ambulance were called to the scene and one casualty [was] airlifted to hospital.
"We are not releasing details of the person's identity," the statement said"

I had the privilege of working with the deceased pilot some years back. An excellent pilot, and very good man, who will be much missed.

My deepest sympathies to all of his family and closer friends.

G

What an awful shock.
R.I.P. Trevor.

Many happy days spent at Old Warden. Condolences to pilot's family, friends and to the Shuttleworth Collection staff, volunteers, et al.

RIP

Very sad indeed - condolences to family, friends and the Shuttleworth team. A sad loss - RIP.

DM very quick at naming casualty.


Ironically the Daily Mail helped create this very aircraft, because it sponsored the 1923 Lympne competition for which the prototype DH53 - the one at Shuttleworth - was built. :(

Heard the tragic news when we arrived at the gate at 12.30pm. Had a long, sad drive back home. It was windy for an ultra-light so I was surprised it had flown. No idea of the cause yet - might not be wind related.

The Daily Mail that helped create this a/c was most likely very different from the sensationalist headlines rag of todays world.

Godspeed Trevor, I didn't know you personally but you were quite clearly an Aviator par excellence, through hardship to the stars - I salute you.

Deepest respects to family, friends & colleagues.

Sad to hear of the loss of Trevor. Had the pleasure of meeting him on the flight-deck of B-767 out of Baltimore a few years ago. A real aviation man. Condolences to family, friends and the Shuttleworth team. R.I.P

Very sad to hear of this tragic news. Old Warden is right on my doorstep and i have visited many many times showing friends and family the collection.

Sincere condolences to the friends and family of the deceased.

Rats404

Very sad and although I should know better, my blood boils at this sort of reporting ... :ugh:

From the Mail on line ...

"The former British Airways pilot had taken to the skies in a 1923 de Havilland Humming Bird which had a history of crashing."

Pilot killed after historic aircraft crashes in front of 600 stunned spectators at airshow | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2167205/Pilot-killed-historic-aircraft-crashes-600-stunned-spectators-airshow.html)

:mad:

As a lad I was at Farnborough when John Derry and the DH110 crashed. The engines flew over my head, the devastation behind me on the hill was appalling and then Neville Duke taxied out and took off in his Hunter and the show went on.
If you go to an airshow and expect it to be 100% safe then think again. AIrshow tickets should say "In the event of a crash the show will go on" but then in this pampered protected age the ticket sales might flounder....

RIP Trevor Roche and thanks for the many vintage flights you gave us in the past.

The DM winds up a lot of people. It should go the way of the News of the World.

A correction (probably one amongst many). At the time of his death, Trevor Roche was a British Airways Captain.

RIP

AAIB are anxious to trace more photos of the accident to the DH 53, particularly of the last few seconds. If you were there, or know of people who were there and have any would you please contact the AAIB. Details on their website.

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/latest_news/phot ... equest.cfm (http://www.aaib.gov.uk/latest_news/photo_video_request.cfm)

Trevor Roche.
I flew with Trevor when he first joined BA and I would rate him as one of the best pilots I ever flew with in my 24,000 hour career. He was an exceptional handling pilot and had a quiet, professional, careful attitude to all he did around planes. A training Captain friend first brought Trevor to my attention. The TC said he felt like giving up after he'd given Trevor, then new to type, an engine failure during rotation and had not felt the sim move at all. He'd looked round at his sim panel to see if he'd programmed it correctly, only to find that he had and that Trevor had flown the thing perfectly. The whole detail was conducted as if the sim was on rails.
Trevor read Engineering at Oxford and was a member of the OUAS. After joining the Royal Air Force, he was one of the few to have ever turned down the Red Arrows and subsequently went to Boscombe and ETPS. He completed a tour as a TP after that.
Whoever chose him as a replacement for Andy Sefton at the Shuttleworth could not have got a better person. What happened is a great tragedy and my deepest sympathies go out to Kate and his two girls.

Trevor and all the team at Shuttleworth have given me immense pleasure with their consummate display of the delightful collection both at Old Warden and at Duxford (and occasionally elsewhere) over many years, and never an anxious moment can I recall. I do remember Trevor striding around a sunny OW flight line on various occasions with a happy smile on his face.

A very poignant loss.

The Daily Mail article is an absolute disgrace and should be removed.

Hear, hear. It suggests, without actually saying anything actionable, that it was unairworthy and only flying because reckless pilots insisted on 'getting behind the controls'. Despicable.

Tim

That DM article is the most despicable excuse for journalism I've ever seen. There are so many inaccuracies, and a ridiculous level of manufactured scandal. I am sickened by the British press and I hope that those responsible are thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Sadly I don't think they know the meaning of dignity, honesty or integrity, character traits that Trevor had in spades.

I would consider setting the record straight, but to be honest those that need to know the truth, already know the truth, and the rest don't matter.

Trevor remains a true inspiration to me.

I would consider setting the record straight, but to be honest those that need to know the truth, already know the truth, and the rest don't matter.

Well, glad to hear that I and probably many others in aviation that are not as close to OW as we would like do not matter. I do know that OW keep many aircraft flying that would probably not be allowed to fly with modern certification, this does not mean they should not be allowed to fly given the appropriate precautions that, IMHO, Shuttleworth are very good at, but I for one would like to know the truth here. I speak as one whos favourite museum is this collection for the very reason that they keep these aircraft flying rather than locking them up on the ground.:hmm:

that it was unairworthy, only flying because reckless pilots insisted on 'getting behind the controls'.

Half the GA community, the general public and the press say this about microlights!

Rans6...........

It is interesting, but unsurprising, that there's been no conjecture about the cause of this accident.

I'm not going to either, but I'm going to say something about it. Trevor, who I knew and had worked with, and liked, was a vastly more competent and experienced pilot than I am. He was flying a very well maintained small vintage aeroplane - exactly the sort of aeroplane I like to fly. He was flying in conditions that he, and I believe I, would consider suitable for that flight.

And he died.

That I find extremely sobering, and for those reasons plan to do some justice to his memory by learning every possible lesson from this tragic accident, once reliable information about it has been published.

G

foxmoth
I was referring to the complete twaddle written by the DM when I was talking about truth or otherwise. If you are a regular visitor to OW you will know that the descriptions of the "proximity", numbers of actual crowd line spectators and the details of Trevor's tenure as Chief Pilot were all well out of line. Never mind the comments about not being able to stop pilots fom flying, or the way in which the standard of engineering and airmanship was questioned. Those people who choose to believe such rubbish just aren't worth the breath. Those people who choose to look with their own eyes, understand, and form their own opinion will already know that what was printed was plainly ridiculous.

As for comment / speculation about cause. What Ghengis said - the reports will come out in the fullness of time, and we'll all read and try to learn whatever we can. There's no benefit whatsoever in half-baked conjecture, even by those who were there.

Maybe I am reading a different article! I am certainly not a fan of the DM and their accuracy, but in the article i read they talk about the crash being away from the crowd, not sure of Trevor's tenure, may be inaccurate, but nothing I could see that was anything but complimentary of his flying and experience.
The bits about problems with the aircraft and pilots wanting to keep flying them I do not know how wrong this bit was, I do know that aircraft of this sort of age are not as reliable as a modern machine so you will have more problems and need more maintenance and also there is (in my view rightly) pressure to keep these aircraft flying, rather than take the easy route and stick yet another FLYING machine on the ground, but I also know that Shuttleworth are very careful with both the maintenance and what they will allow, this maybe was not well put over, but I think those who know about this will realise this bit. Overall the DMs article could have been better, but IMHO people are jumping up and down a bit much over it.

As for comment / speculation about cause. What Ghengis said - the reports will come out in the fullness of time, and we'll all read and try to learn whatever we can. There's no benefit whatsoever in half-baked conjecture, even by those who were there.

Fully agree with this bit.

To be precise, the part that I did not like was "a 1923 de Havilland Humming Bird which had a history of crashing."

As far as I can discover, 12 were built in 1924 and the only crash I can find on record was this one 88 years later.

To me that comment has implications of risk taking, foolhardiness and of there being an inevitability of an accident.

We know the Shuttleworth Collection in general and the deceased in particular better than that.

He was flying a very well maintained small vintage aeroplane - exactly the sort of aeroplane I like to fly. He was flying in conditions that he, and I believe I, would consider suitable for that flight.

And he died

I guess one other sad thing is how this affects the perception of safety of GA to the many hundreds or thousands of people who were watching at the time.

Have you read what Neil Williams said about it? Three major crashes in five and a half hours? 90 degree wing drop? Engine troubles and a lack of power?

It sounds like a real horror.

Neil Williams actually wrote quite a comprehensive review of the aircraft and the ferry flight to the museum

nw san articles (http://steemrok.com/steemroknwlistv4)

Seems it was rebuilt after its first major crash, and during testing/ferrying the engine failed 4 times ultimately requiring a second overhaul.

I'm sure the pilot on the day was well aware of this aircraft's history and the risks, there really wasn't any need for the DM article to sensationalise the story saying "you wouldn’t be able to stop them getting into the aircraft."

I'm sure the pilot on the day was well aware of this aircraft's history and the risks, there really wasn't any need for the DM article to sensationalise the story saying "you wouldn’t be able to stop them getting into the aircraft."

do you expect any better - You have to remember you are talking newspapers here! To me it reflects the enthusiasm at Shuttleworth, but I can see how Joe Public will read it:{

Well, having read Neil Williams' chilling description of the hideous handling of this aircraft I reckon any one of us could write the AAIB report right now with considerable confidence in its accuracy. It's charming characteristics include marked lateral instability, a 90deg wing drop in the stall, do. rudder and aileron reversal, minimal power margin, little if any pitch reference forward and an engine that tries to fail almost every flight and, as NW said, "But at low level, just after take-off, with the additional complication of an engine failure would be no place to discover them..." Amen to that.

But basically, its a really nasty, treacherous and by any normal standard un-flightworthy and predictable killer with a stack of "previous" to prove it. I can only admire the cojones of any ETPS graduate who gets into a craft like that.

Hate to say it but NWs quotes sound like prophetic words, and much of the DM's article suddenly appears much less drivel that I had hitherto suspected.

Well, as Genghis says, it's pleasing that there hasn't been more discussion about the causes of the accident pending the enquiry.

My first thought looking at the pictures is that it seems unjust that the aircraft has escaped relatively undamaged and will probably fly again, whilst Trevor Roche will not.

Thinking of his friends and family.

I flew the Humming Bird when I was a Shuttleworth Collection pilot. I am absolutely sure that Trevor was well aware, as I was, of its handling qualities, history and limitations. An accident can happen in any aircraft, and to any pilot.

I hope this doesn't sound too trivial, but I built and flew a Ford Flivver model aircraft. It had what I believe was a Clark Y wing section and I built that into the model. It flew like it was on the end of a long pole with the engine running (whichever way it tilted, it kept going) but in the glide it was an absolute pig. Aileron reversal and a 90 degree wing drop meant that I could only land it using the rudder/elevator. Apparently the real thing was not dissimilar. Not sure why to this day, but wasn't the DH 53 was the same vintage?

Squadron Leader Trevor Roche (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/air-force-obituaries/9424560/Squadron-Leader-Trevor-Roche.html)

Thanks for posting that link, Tay Cough.

It's a well written write up. It was a privilege to have worked with such a good man.

-t

There is also an excellent obit in this month's Light Aviation mag that has just dropped through my letterbox. It's by John Allison and his widow.

A superlative pilot by that account. If it can happen to him, there is little hope for stick-stirrers like me...

Does anyone know when the report of this accident will be published? I haven't seen anything yet and am curious to see if I have missed it.

MB