Shoreham Airshow 2015

Tragedy struck on the first day of the 2015 Shoreham Airshow when a Hawker Hunter (G-BXFI / WV372) crashed on to the A27, near the airfield’s northern boundary, killing eleven. The aircraft had just begun its display, opening the second half of the day’s flying with a quarter-clover. The AAIB concluded that the low entry speed and low engine thrust in the upward half of the manoeuvre were insufficient for it to be completed before impacting on the ground, and that the pilot did not initiate an escape manoeuvre, despite the aircraft not achieving the required minimum apex height.

The event was stopped and the the following day’s show was cancelled. There has never since been an air show at Shoreham.

The pilot, Andy Hill, was cleared of manslaughter charges at an Old Bailey hearing in March 2019. In December 2022, the Senior Coroner in the Shoreham Airshow Disaster Inquest concluded that the eleven men who died were unlawfully killed and that the pilot’s flying was “exceptionally bad in several aspects”.

Shoreham Airshow 2015 – my photos