Shoreham air show crash pilot calls for judicial review amid inquest conclusion

Eleven men lost their lives when a Hawker Hunter jet crashed onto the A27 during a display at the Shoreham Airshow on Saturday, August 22 in 2015. A further 13 people were injured after the deadliest air show incident in UK for more than 50 years.

After an inquest lasting for more than two weeks in December – and seven years after the tragedy – senior coroner Penelope Schofield said the victims were unlawfully killed when a Hawker Hunter T7 aircraft crashed, whilst attempting an incorrectly flown looping manoeuvre.

Now, two months on, a spokesperson for the West Sussex Coroner's Service confirmed: "The coroner has received a Judicial Review Pre-Action letter from Mr Hill regarding the Shoreham Airshow inquest conclusion into the death of 11 men."

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, issued a statement on Twitter this morning (Monday, February 6).

He said news of the coroner's verdict being challenged will ‘come as a body blow’ to the families of the victims, after a ‘patient and dignified’ wait for closure, lasting more than seven years.

Delivering her conclusions on Tuesday, December 20, Mrs Schofield said the aircraft crashed whilst attempting an incorrectly flown looping manoeuvre. She said the crash occurred because; the aircraft’s speed on entry into the manoeuvre was too slow; the thrust applied by the pilot in the upward half of the manoeuvre was insufficient; the aircraft did not achieve sufficient height at the apex of the manoeuvre to complete it before impacting the ground because the combination of low entry speed and low engine thrust in the upward half of the manoeuvre; and despite the aircraft being significantly short of the minimum apex height to complete the manoeuvre safely, the pilot did not perform an escape manoeuvre.

The coroner said the pilot’s flying was ‘exceptionally bad’, adding: “The death occurred because the aircraft crashed on the A27 due to a change of ground track during the manoeuvre which positioned the aircraft further East than planned, producing an exit track along the dual carriageway.”

The pilot had been cleared in court, in 2019, of manslaughter by gross negligence and he maintained he lost consciousness at the time of the crash. His request, at the pre-inquest review, for Ms Schofield to rule out a verdict of unlawful killing had been denied.

Mrs Schofield found it was ‘unlikely’ that cognitive impairment could be blamed, with no evidence to support those claims. She said this was ‘not a small misjudgement’ and ‘goes beyond a mere mistake’. The senior coroner said her narrative verdict of unlawful killing did not ‘detract from the fact’ Mr Hill was acquitted in a criminal court.

The coroner said a ‘series of gross errors’ led to the deaths in circumstances where; the pilot appeared conscious throughout; the aircraft responded to the pilot’s control inputs; the pilot either did not perceive that an escape manoeuvre was necessary, or did not realise that one was possible at the speed achieved at the apex of the manoeuvre; there was no evidence of any g-related impairment of the pilot during the aerobatic sequence flown; and the g experienced by the pilot during the manoeuvre was probably not a factor in the crash.

The 11 victims were Anthony Brightwell, 53, from Hove; Daniele Polito, 23, from Goring-by-Sea; Dylan Archer, 42, from Brighton; Jacob Schilt, 23, from Brighton; James Mallinson, 72, from Newick; Mark Reeves, 53, from Seaford; Mark Trussler, 54, from Worthing; Matthew Grimstone, 23, from Brighton; Matthew Jones, 24, from Littlehampton; Maurice Abrahams, 76, from Brighton; and Richard Smith, 26, from Hove.

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