buck Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14602900 I don't think I have ever heard of the Red Arrows involved in an accident before. It looks as though this was on the way back to the airfield after the display, rather than during it; I don't know if that tells us anything about what the cause might have been. They have actually had quite a few accidents, luckily most have included safe ejections. My nephew was a flight sergeant with the team for some years. As an armorer, his responsibility was for the ejectors seat pistols. I was with the ground crew of No. 800 Naval Air Squadron for some time myself. This was the Navy's crack aerobatic team, and we lost some pilots during my time with them. All the world's best teams suffer losses, but it is still very painful when it happens. Generally, aircraft are not allowed to perform stunts directly above the audience, and must pass in a parallel line to the crowd at least 500 feet from it. But it can go wrong. A member of the Italian Air Force performing at the USAF base at Mannheim in Germany collided with a teammate while crossing over the crowd. He crashed into the crowd killing over 50 people. A Sea Vixen demonstating to the crowd at Farnborough broke up recovering from a dive, one of its engines went into the crowd and killed 80 people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj.scuba Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Always sad to hear the death of a fellow aviator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andygardener Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 RIP Red 4. Thoughts are with FL Eggings family at this terrible time. From the reports i've read he stayed with the plane to avoid a built up area and consequently could not eject in time to save his own life. A fine pilot and hero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irenewilde Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 A Sea Vixen demonstating to the crowd at Farnborough broke up recovering from a dive, one of its engines went into the crowd and killed 80 people. But this was 1952 and actually only 29 people died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irenewilde Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Awful news. We love watching the Red Arrows, their skill is breathtaking. There's some footage on the BBC that shows the plane peeling off in a curve and then it just seems to be heading towards the ground. I wonder what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Talker Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 As Irene Wilde has said, the Red Arrows display team have given a lot of pleasure to the people who watched their displays, it's terrible that this pilot has died taking part in a display. The first time I really remember seeing the Red Arrows was forty years ago, as a child of about 7 on holiday in Skegness with my Mum and Dad, when they did a fly by (?). the skill was wonderful to watch. We were enthralled. RIP Flight Lieutenant Egging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimba Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 As Irene Wilde has said, the Red Arrows display team have given a lot of pleasure to the people who watched their displays, it's terrible that this pilot has died taking part in a display. The first time I really remember seeing the Red Arrows was forty years ago, as a child of about 7 on holiday in Skegness with my Mum and Dad, when they did a fly by (?). the skill was wonderful to watch. We were enthralled. RIP Flight Lieutenant Egging. Yes, he must have been a good pilot, only the best get into the display team I think, he wasn't in long but he will have entertained lots of people, as well as all the good work he had previously done in Afghanistan. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buck Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 But this was 1952 and actually only 29 people died.I'm sorry, you're quite right, I must have confused it with the Le Mans car crash which happened about that time.Put it down to age, and my refusal to refer to links about events which happened during my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*_ash_* Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 I watched them at Silverstone a few weeks ago. They were absolutely fantastic, just as when I've seen them before once. Despite them obviously not being able to hear the reception, it was carnival atmosphere; Cheering, clapping and horns blown. We love em! It's obviously dangerous work. They show their skills to 'entertain' us which makes it sound like a waste of a life, but, they probably have a huge rush to be able to fly amongst these elite pilots and show their spectacular aviation skills at vast speeds. Sad loss. I'm sorry, you're quite right, I must have confused it with the Le Mans car crash which happened about that time.Put it down to age, and my refusal to refer to links about events which happened during my life. Sorry to be off topic, but there was a docu which you probably haven't seen in the US Buck, it was very interesting. I think it was Hawthorn who was long thought to have caused this accident. But new footage was found a few years ago, that showed it wasn't his fault. So he went to the grave unjustly to blame. I found the footage, (edit, slight warning, this shows footage of a car killing 79 people) this is it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buck Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 I watched them at Silverstone a few weeks ago. They were absolutely fantastic, just as when I've seen them before once. Despite them obviously not being able to hear the reception, it was carnival atmosphere; Cheering, clapping and horns blown. We love em! It's obviously dangerous work. They show their skills to 'entertain' us which makes it sound like a waste of a life, but, they probably have a huge rush to be able to fly amongst these elite pilots and show their spectacular aviation skills at vast speeds. Sad loss. Sorry to be off topic, but there was a docu which you probably haven't seen in the US Buck, it was very interesting. I think it was Hawthorn who was long thought to have caused this accident. But new footage was found a few years ago, that showed it wasn't his fault. So he went to the grave unjustly to blame. I found the footage, (edit, slight warning, this shows footage of a car killing 79 people) this is it. In 1954 I was a young sailor doing training at the Naval Air Electrical School at Worrthy Down near Winchester. I was hitching into town when I was picked up by a Jaguar XK. The driver was Mike Hawthorn on his way to Southampton. He asked me if I wanted to go there. I told him I was sorry because my girl friend was in Winchester. He was a nice guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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