Red Arrow Aircraft Crashes Near Bournemouth

Red Arrow Aircraft Crashes Near Bournemouth

An RAF pilot has died after the Red Arrow aerobatics plane he was flying crashed near Bournemouth airport.

The Ministry of Defence said that Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging of the RAF Aerobatics Team was killed when his Hawk T1 aircraft crashed around 1 km away from the airport at 13:50 PM on Saturday.

The pilot, who was taking part in a display at the annual Bournemouth Air Festival, died after the plane crashed near a river close to the village of Throop.

There were unconfirmed reports that the pilot had attempted to steer his plane away from a nearby residential area before the plane crashed.

Bournemouth International Airport was briefly closed following the accident, but was operating normally by the end of the day.

Dorset Police said they had turned over responsibility for the investigation into the crash to the military.

The Red Arrows were formed in 1965 and have carried out more than 4,000 displays.

In March 2010 two Red Arrows collided in mid air during training. One pilot managed to land safely, but another was forced to eject from his aircraft and suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Close

What's Hot