It's important to note this particular aircraft was only released from the RAF in 1996. It's then been in the hands of wealthy individuals and has been on the circuit for quite some time.

Those saying this aircraft is old or falling to pieces, unless otherwise proven, seemed to be in excellent condition and order.

To answer the question about how he survived - That's a good question. From what I was told, it looked like the fuselage separated forward of the wings, with the momentum separating him from most of the carnage that followed. Not only this, but the unfortunate cars which were on the road (Particularly the Silver BMW) took the impact of the downward motion, taking a lot of energy out of the ground collision.

Think you misquoted me - I never stated pilot error, that was the other person that actually quoted me. Please check your facts and amend your post.

It was maintained at North Weald, I personally know one of the engineers - a meticulous type with a wealth of vintage mil jet experience on the spanners. These same guys maintained the Gnat that went in this month also. Words cannot describe how they must be feeling right now.

Apologies RiSq, it was indeed Effluent man who knows what happened

Whatever the cause of this accident the fact is that this was a well maintained aircraft flown by a very experienced, skilled and careful pilot (who I really hope makes a complete recovery) and such accidents, though fairly uncommon, will always happen at airshows from time to time. That's in the nature of aerobatic flying and pilots accept that risk which is greater than normal flight operations. The emphasis has therefore quite properly been on minimising the risk to spectators as these are obviously the major at-risk group. Following the Shoreham accident more attention will now have to be given to the safety of people beyond the actual airshow and that must mean reviewing the locations of airshows along with the types of aircraft involved.

Though I'm sure it's absolutely not how they're really feeling I'm afraid that the interview with John Turner on Today this morning did make the British Air Display Association appear rather complacent. "We have to wait for the enguiry to report" and "we'll review the rules with the CAA in due course." We don't want a knee-jerk reaction such as banning all on-shore displays but we do know what happened on the A27 even if not why it happened and I think the public will expect an immediate review of existing airshows.

You can never remove risk entirely but you can identify and minimise areas of potential hazard. Though not a significant risk for normal arrivals and departures I'm afraid the proximity of the A27 to a relatively small aerodrome and its position relative to the display line does look like a hazard that wouldn't apply to most others used for airshows.

I think the authorities have to fix the problem they have and not over-react.

The pilot was displaying in the wrong place with too few safety margins. It's that simple.

They have a 5500 ceiling because of Gatwick who are at the moment experimenting with varying traffic over Sussex day to day (presumably because of airliner noise). Perhaps they are a little restrictive with the ceiling, given they don't have a stable pattern over the county.

Pilots from Shoreham are during the summer buzzing up and down the coast to Brighton - the place where everyone lets go - and of course that culture has gotten to them. I raise my eyebrows at pilots doing manoeuvres over Brighton with seemingly little oversight.

Control is not something I associate with pilots flying our of Shoreham. But that could be changed.

Alternatively, putting the show over the water at Lancing might be good for everyone and successful.

Wow, what a sweeping statement. Thank you for the insight in to the culture of a Shoreham pilot... You really are putting them in a good light.

The only part of your garble I can agree with.

Good rant FJ2ME, ALARP is a good and sensible yardstick and let's hope that reasonable judgement prevails when the authorities make difficult decisions (as they will most certainly have to) about future safety regulations at airshows.

Although not relating to this tragedy (I believe there were other factors at play), a starter would be to ban downward vertical manouevres with low pullouts in high inertia aircraft, full stop! There have been too many tragedies from these manouevres. Half or full Cuban Eights look nicer and are a lot safer.

Does anyone know if the plane was fitted with a Flight Data Recorder?

and Not sure which half cuban you've been doing but the one I was taught has a significant downward manoeuvre akin to the second half of a loop which I assume you're referring to in reference to this accident.

Nope, just as easy to bugger up, twice if you do the full cuban.

Above The Clouds,

As possibly the only Councillor with any knowledge of airshows I did indeed register my unease. However if you go around resigning over every issue that you are outvoted on it becomes ridiculous, you end up behaving like spoilt kids. I made my doubts over safety known, luckily with Lowestoft I was wrong, but as this incident shows it was luck.

On the "pilot error" issue , if I could clarify: I agree that the AAIB will indeed establish the cause of the crash. However where I do feel that his responsibility lies is on the positioning of the aircraft. He should not have been over the A27. That may of course not have been deliberate but I would argue that it was certainly an error.

re: Ejection. Not possible. Ejection seats on ex-military aircraft in civilian hands are either removed or disabled. It is not as simple as having an ejection seat. It (seat, pyros, chute) has to be maintained and is expensive, especially for historic aircraft.

Incorrect.

Some may be but I have flown in a civilian owned JP with live seats.

I have no idea regarding the subject aircraft.

Not for the Hunter flying in Switzerland. The ejection seat are being maintained and the holders are civil club, holders of the different Hunter. But as said, the clubs cannot afford to fit all the Hunter at the same time. This is why they share them ;)

http://www.swisshunterteam.com/

I agree, the first time using 2 notches of flap was domo'ed to me I was amazed at the ammount of aft stick movement that was needed to keep the thing in the buffet.
This seems to have popped up in the wrong place; but I would guess he was outside the seat parameters anyway, 1000ft per 1000ft v/s ?

A not too dissimilar incident at the 1997 Ostend Air Show resulted in a banning of air shows in Belgium.

Unfortunately it can take a loss of innocent lives for sense to be realised!

Maybe in MD, but not here in Europe. If you search the info already in the public domain re this accident you will see that there were concerns that the seats were still live.

Question for someone that has done displays and carried out such manoeuvres as attempted on Saturday.

Is it mandatory you wear a visor when completing loops or at the very least some sort of sun shield? I saw someone mentioned that he flew up into the sun which may have temporarily blinded him. I find that a little hard to believe, but I was just interested to know if this was a requirement for aerobatics, especially on privately owned aircraft.

Hmm.

Air displays to face restrictions - BBC News

CAA statement
 

The thoughts of everyone at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) remain with all of those affected by the tragic accident at the Shoreham Air Show on Saturday 22 August.
Following the accident we immediately began an urgent review and have, today, announced a series of immediate restrictions and changes to UK civil air displays.
• As a precaution, on Saturday 22 August we took steps to ensure no further flights were made by Hawker Hunter aircraft - this temporary restriction remains in place.
• Flying displays over land by vintage jet aircraft will be significantly restricted until further notice. They will be limited to flypasts, which means ‘high energy’ aerobatics will not be permitted.
• The CAA will conduct additional risk assessments on all forthcoming civil air displays to establish if additional measures should be introduced.
• We commenced a full review of civil air display safety yesterday and held an initial meeting this morning.
The safety standards that must be met by all major civil air displays in the UK are among the very highest in the world and are regularly reviewed. All air display arrangements, including the pilots and aircraft, must meet rigorous safety requirements. Individual display pilots are only granted approval following a thorough test of their abilities.
The CAA will continue to offer every assistance to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch as it seeks to establish the cause of the accident. The CAA will also act promptly in response to any emerging indications from the AAIB’s investigation.


Source: Guardian