Originally Posted by
tiger1411
Yes, I was there that day and saw it happen, my thoughts are exactly the same as yours. Shoreham was more than just a failure by a single individual, the rules and regs regarding "vintage" jet displays were far too lax for far too long. All the warning signs for a catastrophic event like Shoreham were there in plain sight, but the window of opportunity to prevent it was missed.
And, for the record, the Gnat came down in woodland frequented by walkers, horse riders and dog walkers. And right on the edge of the public road cutting through the woods. A few hundred meters from a pub and similar distance from the event car parks and campsite if I recall. It too could have been so much worse, but for the grace of God and all that.
So a fractional difference in the Gnat's trajectory and the result could have been even more tragic than Shoreham?
If I remember correctly (and it is a few years since I read the report) the pilot of the Gnat had the bare minimum number of hours in the preceding 12 months to retain a PPL? Yet it was lawful for him to fly that type of swept wing jet at a large public display!
Compare that with when the RAF still provided a solo Hawk display each season. How many hours practice would a much younger and very current fast jet pilot have in preparation for a display season? Even then, wasn't one of them grounded mid season for repeatedly "pushing the flight boundaries". However, at least in that case the supervision picked up the problem and took some decisive action.