A report in the South Wales Evening Post
reveals some information regarding the crew
of the Vampire.
Thoughts with all those touched by this tragedy:
City mourns crash flyer
Airport worker killed as Vampire jet falls from sky
By Jo Doek
A SWANSEA airport worker was killed in one of the two horrific fatal crashes during the Biggin air show at the weekend.
Jim Kerr, aged 32, had only left his job at the airport the previous day to pursue his dream of restoring vintage air craft full time. He and the pilot were killed instantly on Saturday afternoon when a De Havilland Vampire jet crashed at the Kent show. Mr Kerr, a father-of-one with a partner who lived at Craigcefnparc in the Swansea Valley, loved De Havilland Vampire jets and had bought and restored his own. On Saturday he took up a last minute unexpected offer of being a passenger in a display flight in the same type of aircraft at the show. But after successfully flying over the crowd four times, the 1950s former Swiss air force trainer jet suddenly spiralled out of control.
It corkscrewed twice before plummeting into a ridge and bursting into flames. Show spokesman Nick Smith said: "The only way I can describe it is that it fell out of the sky. Air accident investigators will look at and determine the cause of the accident.
"Mr Kerr had been an air traffic controller for some years at Swansea Airport. He left on Friday to pursue his dream of restoring vintage aircraft full time in California.
Swansea airport commercial manager Sarah Hopkins said: "Jim was liked by everyone at the airport and by anyone and everyone who met him."His passion was flying. Working on vintage planes was his life."He had enormous respect throughout the industry for his work and was widely sought after. "He died doing something that was for him an all consuming passion and I know everyone will miss him."
The aircraft involved in the crash was not Mr Kerr's own treasured Vampire jet which he bought in 1991 and restored.
Flintshire born Mr Kerr fell in love with Vampire jets at the age of eight when someone gave him a photograph of the military jet.
In 1984 this passion led him to join the air cadets and later train as an avionics technician at RAF Sealand. By the age of 22 he was a Vampire expert and bought a former military Vampire at a Ministry of Defence surplus equipment sale