S-D (your #11) and Leon Jabachjabicz (your #12),
I take your points about the narrowness of the sample, and the other factors involved.
Perhaps I am approaching this with the mindset of at least two generations ago, when sudden death was simply part of the fabric of life; as we could do nothing about it, the best thing was to put it out of our minds. This may well seem callous to people today.
This mindset persisted well into the '50s (witness the Meteor training losses of that time) and the public (lack of) reaction to the Farnborough 1952 DH 110 accident, in which 29 spectators and 2 crew died. That event was the last British air show in which spectators were killed until the 2015 Shoreham Airshow crash in which 11 people died (Wiki - I shall have to edit my #10 ). There was no public outcry, air displays did not have to be cancelled in consequence, the Farnborough 1953 show took place as normal.
The only official reaction was to order that: "jets at air shows were obliged to keep at least 230 m (750 ft) from crowds if flying straight and 450 m (1,480 ft) when performing manoeuvres and always at an altitude of at least 150 m (490 ft)". (Wiki) As to that, I cannot improve on:
"That is very fine; but it is impossible to make the men perfect; the men will always remain the same as they are now; and no legislation will make a man have more presence of mind, or, I believe, make him more cautious; and besides that, the next time such an accident occurs, the circumstances will be so different, that the instructions given to the men, in consequence of the former accident, will not apply". — Isambard Kingdom Brunel, (Great Aviation Quotes).
Cut to today: last Saturday's Teeside Air Show has been hurriedly cancelled in toto ("postponed to next year" !) It does not affect me - I'm too immobile to attend - but a lot of people were deprived of a great pleasure.
Danny42C.