BBC:
An RAF Harrier jet performing at an air show has crashed into the sea off the Suffolk coast.
The accident happened in front of thousands of holidaymakers at the Lowestoft Air Show. The pilot ejected shortly after the engine failed.
The Harrier was coming to the end of its display - when it bows to the crowd, before flying off.
A spokesman for the organisers says at about fifty feet, there was apparently engine failure and the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Tony Cann, ejected. The Lowestoft lifeboat brought him ashore.
Flight Lieutenant Cann, who is based at RAF Wittering, is understood to be well and crowds applauded him as he waved from a helicopter which was taking him to the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston for examination.
A BBC reporter at the scene said the aircraft was flying about 50ft above the water when there was a loud explosion.
"The Harrier, one of the most popular parts of the show, was facing the crowd about 50ft from the edge of the sand," said Guy Campbell.
"It was about to do a favourite manoeuvre with the crowds - a bow - when there seemed to be some kind of huge engine loss.
"The jet began to fall towards the sea then there was an explosion as the hood of the cockpit blew off and we saw the pilot fly about 50ft into the air."
No-one in the crowd was injured.
Last edited by ORAC; 2nd Aug 2002 at 18:05.