The BBC news team is as bad as any other for misquoting and accuracy, the official channels are the only reliable sources. Three hours on and no suggestion from official sources of a survivor doesn't bode well.

It seems to be confirmed in the media. Names are being withheld however.

Red Arrows pilot killed in crash near Bournemouth Airport after festival display | Mail Online

According to the Bournemouth Air Festival on social networking sites:
The MOD have confirmed the death of Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging of the Royal Air Force Aerobatics Team, The Red Arrows. Bournemouth Borough Council and Bournemouth Air Festival will issue a statement shortly.

MoD and Police have confirmed Flt Lt Jon Egging has been killed.

BBC article has also changed in the last minute or so to report that pilot died and that MOD has confirmed. Looks like this is official, not speculation.
:sad:

BBC confirming death.

:sad:

Reds Crash
 

One and All,

I have been monitoring this Thread since the outset and have the following to point out:

The lack of information initially re the pilot did not look good and the sad news we now have was inevitable I think. A great loss.

I hope those of you above who have posted opinions and 'facts' are ashamed of yourselves.

The deceased man was a Red, which was his job - an honour in itself. He was also no doubt a family man - I have not looked so do not know any details. For those I have mentioned above, think of this:

His father /mother / wife / son /daughter etc, happen to be looking at this site when they see the thread pop up. They would probably then be hit with all the emotions of such news. Is it..........Isn't it...............followed by the knock on the door. Life changing.

Before you post w*&%y comments, consider the effect on the other people.

Think about it.


TN:ugh:

To clarify, afaik, Op Minimise means no Comms until NOK have been informed, which I sincerely hope they have been by now. Fly high Red4.

Speculation is inevitable - but is best held in check whilst the Inquiry into the tragedy is conducted. There are numerous possibilities as to the reason for this tragedy and it will take many months to ascertain which of those possibilities could be probabilities or potential causes. I would expect that it will be at least a year before a probable cause could be identified.

As one who once served in the RAF and who has been a member of a Board of Inquiry (that is the 3-person team convened to investigate Service accidents), I would join the voices of restraint on here. The simple truth is that no one knows what happened yet, and it is appropriate such a short time after the death of one of the RAF's finest young men to be sensitive to his family and the countless people close to the Red Arrows who will have been devastated by this tragic event. I fully understand the natural desire of people to know, and indeed the massive public interest in such a high-profile event, but everyone has to be allowed a period of privacy for even a short time at a time like this. If we have genuine news or insight, that is great - but surely it can wait for a day or so as a mark of respect.

From recollection, it is the duty of the President of the Board to issue a 48-hour signal which will outline the initial, but not binding view, of what actually happened. That may just say, 'Cause Undetermined'. If the military Board of Inquiry do not know, then the chances of anyone on here knowing more would seem slight to me.

Red Arrow Crash. My view
 

I was on the airfield and watched the aircraft do there run and break as usual. Red 4 pulled right as usual but it then looked as if he fails to pull out of the bank and lost altitude. I lost him behind the trees at about 50 feet after he made no obvious attitude correction.
He did not make any radio calls. The calls came from another red arrows pilot. After a few seconds red 1 made a call on the civilian channel calling a Mayday for the Reds. He then asked his crew on their private frequency if anyone spotted were it went in and one replied "there is wreckage in the river boss".
Sad day,
RIP Jon.

Suzukiraider

Thank you for an accurate report

I had the honor of a day with the Reds back in Feb this year, and spend some time chatting with Flt Lt. Jon Egging.

I had expected the reds to be the ultimate 'Nigels', but they were the soundest, nicest, most passionate people I've met so far in this business.

This news has knocked me back a bit, he was such a good bloke. The aviation world is a poorer place.

Rest in Peace

A little bit moe info here

Crash pilot's wife watched air show - Yahoo!

Was his father a Phil Egging, training captain in BA, who was a top bloke?

Terribly sad. I watched the display at Bournemouth this afternoon and was impressed. We were unaware of the tragedy until later. Condolences to the family of the pilot and the Reds and Blues of the RAF Aerobatic Team.

Group Captain Simon Blake said on Sky News that the team will be grounded until the enquiry and it is too early to say if the team will be displaying at all for the remainder of the season.

We now have to wait for the enquiry to ascertain what happened. It is pointless speculating on the cause until the facts emerge.

BBC news earlier referred to the Red Arrows as a 'RAF regiment'... :ugh::=

My thoughts of course are with Jon Egging's family.

Several things here on these threads and the Daily Mail/Channel4/google news serve to really annoy me....please stop calling the finest aerobatic display team in the world a "stunt" team.

The Telegragh and others say Jon is the first Red Arrows fatality in 33 years...this does a great dis-service to the likes of Flt Lt Neil "Clachy" MacClachlan sadly killed while with the Reds in 1988, another great pilot and friend to those that new him.

Well, I hope people on PPRuNe have learned a thing or two from this tragedy.

KiloNovember52
I hope you have re-texted your friend and told them using suitable expletives what a 'fool' they are. If the message is suitably abrasive you may also consider reading it out aloud whilst staring in to the bathroom mirror.

HEATHROW DIRECTOR

You should really know better.

For the person asking what Op Minimise was, then yes, it would be stopping all communications as quickly as possible. No mobile calls, no calls off the Squadron or in to the Sqn etc etc, all in a bid to ensure that the potential for even a small amount of misinformation is at the absolute minimum. The effects on family members of misinformation that leads them to believe one thing when another is the truth can add dramatically to the devastation that may await.

Perhaps after seeing yet another example of folks on here feeling the need to be first to post with their 'breaking news, world exclusive', PPRuNe ought to consider imposing an Op Minimise on similar events in the future. Perhaps simply a thread with the first news report of an occurrence with a statement that further 'official press releases' will be added as they are made available to the media, the thread being locked and unavailable for any input other than those of the forum moderator. After the official statements have been released then I guess it's then just back to open season for everyone to wildly speculate upon. I am sure we could all display the dignity of waiting a few hours whilst facts are gathered and family members are informed either way, rather than wanting to feel the petty self satisfaction of thinking we got the first 'breaking news exclusive post' on the forum.

I can understand your anger but there were reports (speculative or otherwise) that the pilot had ejected, I think one saying the pilot had been pulled from a river....a witness may see a part or debris in the sky & think it was an ejection; whatever.
I'd agree that when these accidents occur within reason the thread needs at least heavy policing to stop the comments that only add to speculation & grief.