Another Red Arrows mishap? (merged)
MOD confirms the death of Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham
9 November 2011
It is with sadness that the MOD must confirm that Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, was killed when he was ejected from his Hawk T1 aircraft on the morning of Tuesday 8 November 2011.
A full Service Inquiry will investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Red 5 - Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, aged 35, was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to the UK in 1986 at the age of nine. Although a profession in football was a possibility, he followed his dream to become a fast jet pilot in the Royal Air Force. Flt Lt Cunningham attended Ernesford Grange School in Coventry, during which time he qualified for his Private Pilot Licence at the age of 17. He went on to read Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nottingham Trent University, and completed his Elementary Flying Training as a member of East Midlands Universities Air Squadron.
Joining the Royal Air Force in 2000, Flt Lt Cunningham was selected for Fast Jet Training. On completion of his flying training, he was posted to the Tornado GR4 aircraft serving on 617 'The Dambusters' Squadron at Royal Air Force Lossiemouth. During his three years on the Squadron, Flt Lt Cunningham completed several operational tours of Iraq as part of Operation TELIC, flying close air support missions for coalition ground forces.
After completing exercises in America, Canada, Romania and France, Flt Lt Cunningham joined XV (R) Squadron as a Qualified Pilot and Tactics Instructor. He continued his instructional role when posted to the Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) Training Unit at 100 Squadron, RAF Leeming, before being selected to fly for the RAF Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, in 2010.
Flt Lt Cunningham's family - father Jim, mother Monika and sister Nicolette - said:
"Sean was first and foremost a much-loved son and brother who will be dearly missed by all of his family, and his many good friends.
"Since his childhood Sean had dreamed of flying fast jets in the Royal Air Force; through his hard work and dedication he achieved that dream, and the pinnacle of his career was to fly in the Red Arrows. Sean loved his flying and we hope that his life will be an inspiration to all those who share his dreams.
"His fun-loving nature has never failed to put a smile on the faces of those who knew and loved him; this is how he will be remembered.
"We ask that the media please allow us the time and space required to come to terms with what has happened."
Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond said:
"It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham. He was clearly a gifted pilot who served his country with honour and distinction throughout his career in the Royal Air Force.
"As a Red Arrow, Flight Lieutenant Cunningham was regarded as among the most talented aviators in the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this terrible time."
Air Officer Commanding Number 22 (Training) Group, Air Vice-Marshal Mike Lloyd, said:
"The Red Arrows personify the teamwork, professionalism and excellence that is commonplace throughout the Royal Air Force and Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham demonstrated each of these values on a daily basis. His contribution to the Service as an aviator in the Tornado GR4 Force, as a Red Arrows pilot and as an officer, has been outstanding. Sean will be missed by all and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."
Group Captain Simon Blake, the Commandant of the RAF's Central Flying School, said:
"Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham joined the team in October 2010 and flew for his first year as Red 3. This year, Sean had commenced training as Red 5 and was the senior member of the 'front 5', affectionately known as 'Enid', and thus had the unofficial mantle of 'Uncle Enid' - a key position in mentoring and helping to train the new pilots to the team.
"His constant smile, energy, and joie de vivre was infectious, and he will be sorely missed by his fellow pilots, the entire Red Arrows team, and his many colleagues and friends in the wider Royal Air Force. Our heartfelt sorrow and sympathy go out to his family and all those whose lives he touched."
9 November 2011
It is with sadness that the MOD must confirm that Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, was killed when he was ejected from his Hawk T1 aircraft on the morning of Tuesday 8 November 2011.
A full Service Inquiry will investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Red 5 - Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, aged 35, was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to the UK in 1986 at the age of nine. Although a profession in football was a possibility, he followed his dream to become a fast jet pilot in the Royal Air Force. Flt Lt Cunningham attended Ernesford Grange School in Coventry, during which time he qualified for his Private Pilot Licence at the age of 17. He went on to read Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nottingham Trent University, and completed his Elementary Flying Training as a member of East Midlands Universities Air Squadron.
Joining the Royal Air Force in 2000, Flt Lt Cunningham was selected for Fast Jet Training. On completion of his flying training, he was posted to the Tornado GR4 aircraft serving on 617 'The Dambusters' Squadron at Royal Air Force Lossiemouth. During his three years on the Squadron, Flt Lt Cunningham completed several operational tours of Iraq as part of Operation TELIC, flying close air support missions for coalition ground forces.
After completing exercises in America, Canada, Romania and France, Flt Lt Cunningham joined XV (R) Squadron as a Qualified Pilot and Tactics Instructor. He continued his instructional role when posted to the Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) Training Unit at 100 Squadron, RAF Leeming, before being selected to fly for the RAF Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, in 2010.
Flt Lt Cunningham's family - father Jim, mother Monika and sister Nicolette - said:
"Sean was first and foremost a much-loved son and brother who will be dearly missed by all of his family, and his many good friends.
"Since his childhood Sean had dreamed of flying fast jets in the Royal Air Force; through his hard work and dedication he achieved that dream, and the pinnacle of his career was to fly in the Red Arrows. Sean loved his flying and we hope that his life will be an inspiration to all those who share his dreams.
"His fun-loving nature has never failed to put a smile on the faces of those who knew and loved him; this is how he will be remembered.
"We ask that the media please allow us the time and space required to come to terms with what has happened."
Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond said:
"It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham. He was clearly a gifted pilot who served his country with honour and distinction throughout his career in the Royal Air Force.
"As a Red Arrow, Flight Lieutenant Cunningham was regarded as among the most talented aviators in the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this terrible time."
Air Officer Commanding Number 22 (Training) Group, Air Vice-Marshal Mike Lloyd, said:
"The Red Arrows personify the teamwork, professionalism and excellence that is commonplace throughout the Royal Air Force and Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham demonstrated each of these values on a daily basis. His contribution to the Service as an aviator in the Tornado GR4 Force, as a Red Arrows pilot and as an officer, has been outstanding. Sean will be missed by all and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."
Group Captain Simon Blake, the Commandant of the RAF's Central Flying School, said:
"Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham joined the team in October 2010 and flew for his first year as Red 3. This year, Sean had commenced training as Red 5 and was the senior member of the 'front 5', affectionately known as 'Enid', and thus had the unofficial mantle of 'Uncle Enid' - a key position in mentoring and helping to train the new pilots to the team.
"His constant smile, energy, and joie de vivre was infectious, and he will be sorely missed by his fellow pilots, the entire Red Arrows team, and his many colleagues and friends in the wider Royal Air Force. Our heartfelt sorrow and sympathy go out to his family and all those whose lives he touched."
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Ladies and Gentlemen, just to let you know, there has been a book of condolences set up,
Please see
RAF Red Arrows - Flt Lt Sean Cunningham Message of Condolence
.
Please see
RAF Red Arrows - Flt Lt Sean Cunningham Message of Condolence
.
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Indeed a very very sad day for the reds and the RAF as a whole. My thoughts and condolences go out to all family, friends and collegues of him. I hope the armorers and squippers are doing ok too. Cant think of a feeling worse than finding out the kit you work on has been used and failed to work properly.
Rest in peace
Rest in peace
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Condolences to everyone involved, I think people need to be a little bit careful about what they are saying though as comments about technical faults and equipment not working properly might well be completely wrong.
The reason the fleets have been grounded is precautionary and makes complete common sense in case something is obviously wrong with all seats/aircraft.
The reason the fleets have been grounded is precautionary and makes complete common sense in case something is obviously wrong with all seats/aircraft.
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RIP Red 5 again. As I recall Jon Egging flew Red 5. As to the gutter press this mornings Sun said he was a 35 years old Flt Lt. Pretty easy to come up with the name after that clue!
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While I offer my sympathies and condolances to the family of the pilot, I would like to echoes the thoughts of essexlad.
Having witnessed an armourer colleague almost catatonic with grief after an incident where an ejection seat he had fitted had failed to fire, the first thought of anyone who has touched an aircraft or its role equipment after any incident involving serious injury or loss of life is often "was it something I did?"
Having witnessed an armourer colleague almost catatonic with grief after an incident where an ejection seat he had fitted had failed to fire, the first thought of anyone who has touched an aircraft or its role equipment after any incident involving serious injury or loss of life is often "was it something I did?"
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Ref the Daily Mail action; whilst it is undoubtedly unforgivable to not respect the family's wishes, how many Ppruners went straight to DM online to establish who was the victim of this accident?
If the Daily Mail have disrespected the family, so has each and every poster "lambasting" the paper but in turn directing information seekers to them. A lot of people need to have a long hard look in the mirror today.
My thoughts to the pilot's family.
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I have seen it myself first hand after a crash and they are twats, but our collective lust for instant 24 hr news and breaking stories is what drives them.
Just because in this instant it is about one our own and not Gaddaffi or some banking crisis then it does not mean they play any differently, you cant have it both ways!
Just because in this instant it is about one our own and not Gaddaffi or some banking crisis then it does not mean they play any differently, you cant have it both ways!
Champagne anyone...?
Just what I was thinking. A lot of very self righteous "I've complained to the Press Complaints... etc etc ad infinitum
I stand by my sentiment. I have never complained to the PCC before as I normally don't care about what the press get up to and can generally write them off as sad little bottom feeders. On this occasion however they flagrantly went against the wishes of a grieving family to get their "scoop". I saw these crap excuses for humanity pouring all over the families of the crew of XV179 when that was shot down and am frankly appalled to see it happen again. I do not wish to think that my elderly parents would be subjected to this revolting treatment were I to stick my aircraft into a hillside one day.
You can't write off their behaviour as being a result of "our" desire for 24hr news either - Gadaffi getting caught after 6 month+ multinational combat operation and civil war has relevance and is newsworthy; agencies will fight to be the first to break that. A Red Arrow pilot getting tragically killed is of course newsworthy in itself - his identity is not. You cannot compare the rush to get a picture of an enshackled Gadaffi on to our screens to poking microphones through the letterboxes of grieving parents hours after their loss. Every other press agency managed to maintain a certain level of decency on the matter.
I'm not an internet warrior, I don't have Bus, Outrage, Pprune on my FMT600 and I generally refrain from engaging in internet grieving for people I didn't know. I also don't have a vendetta against the Mail although I do think it is a poor excuse for a newspaper. If however you're happy with the thought that your relatives might be subjected to this sort of treatment one day then crack on with your righteousness and pass by on the other side of the road. Careful though, the air can get pretty thin up there on the moral high ground.
This line of discussion detracts from the main issue at hand here and I do not wish to be party to dragging this thread down the usual Pprune latrine of pointless arguments.
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If you seriously think that a couple of comments on a minor internet forum directed at the website of a major national newspaper somehow has any bearing on the traffic of that site then I'd suggest you need to have another think about how the internet works.
Or, perhaps we really should get rid of Rumour from this website, it clearly upsets a lot of people. (And while you are at it, Professional and Pilot could do with a rethink!)
From my e-mail in-box ...
self explanatory methinks
Thank you for your complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. We have received a number of complaints in relation to this matter.
Given the nature of the situation, you will understand that we have to bear in mind the wishes of the family of the pilot concerned. In the first instance, we will therefore seek to determine whether the family wishes to complain. We will endeavour to be in touch once we are aware of the position.
Given the nature of the situation, you will understand that we have to bear in mind the wishes of the family of the pilot concerned. In the first instance, we will therefore seek to determine whether the family wishes to complain. We will endeavour to be in touch once we are aware of the position.
self explanatory methinks
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From my e-mail in-box ...
Quote:
Thank you for your complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. We have received a number of complaints in relation to this matter.
Given the nature of the situation, you will understand that we have to bear in mind the wishes of the family of the pilot concerned. In the first instance, we will therefore seek to determine whether the family wishes to complain. We will endeavour to be in touch once we are aware of the position.
self explanatory methinks
Quote:
Thank you for your complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. We have received a number of complaints in relation to this matter.
Given the nature of the situation, you will understand that we have to bear in mind the wishes of the family of the pilot concerned. In the first instance, we will therefore seek to determine whether the family wishes to complain. We will endeavour to be in touch once we are aware of the position.
self explanatory methinks
We need to think about the next family who end up having distress piled on distress because of the Mail's disregard for their feelings.
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Having witnessed an armourer colleague almost catatonic with grief after an incident where an ejection seat he had fitted had failed to fire, the first thought of anyone who has touched an aircraft or its role equipment after any incident involving serious injury or loss of life is often "was it something I did?"
)...I would like to say I feel as much for those who are worried about their role in this tragedy...Pity the press put sensationalism before personal wishes...little that can be done about it....
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just a thought
Earlier replies raise an interesting issue, the loved ones are doing their best to deal with a complete shock and bolt out of the blue and now in grief with no previous thought or training. Everone is very different and their reactions to the situation are totally unpredictable when it actually happens and of course their wishes should be respected if at all possible.
As a new "orphan" having lost my Dad just a few weeks ago at 88 I used e-mail to update those who wanted news updates and other than a very small minority that thought it was too impersonal the over whelming majority where pleased to receive the e-mail's and made comments like really want to hear but don't like to keep phoning and asking and to be perfectly honest I did not want to spend hours making VERY hard phone calls and talking about it. Now we have the CI ditching where my inlaws live, fortunatley (for us) not friends of theirs but we have had people check I was not flying out there to visit. The traggic M5 crash: the large number OMG could xyz be involved? By quickly naming the poor individual quite a large number are saved from worry. Obviously it should be a case by case decision but personally on thoughtful reflection if I was that poor person, name me quickly to save a larger number from worry. The Red Arrows pilots plus the reserves knowing several hundred people each and then their immeadiate families or people concerned because their friend is worried sick. I can see the logic of don't print for a couple of days when families had time to break the sad news to priority people that should know when we still used jungle drums but in the modern high speed world that luxury is in the past?
As a new "orphan" having lost my Dad just a few weeks ago at 88 I used e-mail to update those who wanted news updates and other than a very small minority that thought it was too impersonal the over whelming majority where pleased to receive the e-mail's and made comments like really want to hear but don't like to keep phoning and asking and to be perfectly honest I did not want to spend hours making VERY hard phone calls and talking about it. Now we have the CI ditching where my inlaws live, fortunatley (for us) not friends of theirs but we have had people check I was not flying out there to visit. The traggic M5 crash: the large number OMG could xyz be involved? By quickly naming the poor individual quite a large number are saved from worry. Obviously it should be a case by case decision but personally on thoughtful reflection if I was that poor person, name me quickly to save a larger number from worry. The Red Arrows pilots plus the reserves knowing several hundred people each and then their immeadiate families or people concerned because their friend is worried sick. I can see the logic of don't print for a couple of days when families had time to break the sad news to priority people that should know when we still used jungle drums but in the modern high speed world that luxury is in the past?
Last edited by simonrennie; 13th Nov 2011 at 09:37.
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just a thought
Earlier replies raise an interesting issue, the loved ones are doing their best to deal with a complete shock and bolt out of the blue and now in grief with no previous thought or training. Everone is very different and their reactions to the situation are totally unpredictable when it actually happens and of course their wishes should be respected if at all possible. As a new "orphan" having lost my dad just a few weeks ago at 88 I used e-mail to update those who wanted news updatess and other than a very small minority that thought it was too impersonally the over whelming majority where pleased to receive the e-mail's and made comments like really want to hear but don't like to keep phoning and asking and to be perfectly honest I did not want to spend hours making VERY hard phone calls and talking about it. How we have the CI ditching where my inlaws live, fortunatley not friends of theirs but we have had people check I was now flying out there to visit. The traggic M5 crash the large number OMG could xyz be involved? By quickly naming the poor individual quite a large number are saved from worry. Obviously it should be a case by case decision but personally on thoughtful reflection if I was that poor person, name me quickly to save a larger number from worry. The Red Arrows pilots plus the reserves knowing several hundred people each and then their immeadiate families or people concerned because their friend is worried sick. I can see the logic of don't print for a couple of days when families had time to break the sad news to priority people that should know when we still used jungle drums but in the modern high spped world that luxury is in the past?