Shoreham air crash trial: Pilot Andy Hill 'chose risky stunt'

Jurors have been shown footage of a fatal jet crash at the Shoreham Airshow in which 11 men died.

Andy Hill's Hawker Hunter jet hit the ground and exploded after he attempted a manoeuvre known as the bent loop, the Old Bailey has heard.

The court was shown several clips of the moment the vintage aircraft erupted into a "massive fireball" upon crashing into the A27 in August 2015.

Mr Hill, 54, denies 11 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.

'Last moments'

On the second day of the trial, Prosecutor Tom Kark QC played a series of videos recorded by spectators.

He warned jurors they may find the footage, parts of which were filmed by a witness standing behind some of the victims, "distressing".

"You are in effect seeing these gentleman in the last few seconds of their lives," he said.

One clip, filmed by a spectator on the road, shows the aircraft going into the loop manoeuvre before coming towards the camera.

It ends with images of the fireball, with the footage cutting out as the person filming throws themselves to the ground.

A second piece of footage shows the aircraft descend behind a group of trees before bursting into flames.

Jurors were also shown a clip filmed inside the aircraft's cockpit.

Lasting about a minute, the footage shows the jet performing a banking turn and a loop before inverting and descending, ending with the impact.

'High risk'

The court has heard the aircraft erupted in a "massive fireball" upon impact

David Evans, a member of the Shoreham Airshow's flying committee, said he had watched as Mr Hill performed the manoeuvre.

Giving evidence, the former Civil Aviation Authority air display director said the jet "was quite slow; it was quite low".

"That's when I thought 'my god' this doesn't look very good. It was, in my opinion, a bit low to undertake the manoeuvre," he told the jury.

Asked if he took any action to halt the display, he replied: "I think it had gone beyond that point."

Mr Kark told jurors Mr Hill chose to perform the "highest risk" manoeuvre possible before the fatal crash.

He had committed the "cardinal sin" of trying to complete the trick while apparently lacking the height to do so, the Old Bailey heard.

Jonathan Whaley, a "very experienced ex-Royal Navy pilot" who has flown more than 1,200 hours in a Hawker Hunter, had reviewed footage of the crash, Mr Kark told the court.

Mr Whaley had concluded the pilot "made a conscious decision to pull through the loop even though he appeared to be too low to do so", Mr Kark said.

Mr Whaley described this as a "cardinal sin," jurors were told.

The court heard that Mr Whaley viewed the bent loop as "perhaps the highest risk manoeuvre in an aircraft which is not designed as pure aerobatic aircraft", such as a Hawker Hunter.

'Dreadful negligence'

The prosecution argued Andy Hill was flying too low to complete a manoeuvre while performing at the Shoreham Airshow in 2015

Prosecutor Mr Kark said the crash, which killed ten victims instantly, was the inevitable outcome of a "catalogue of errors" on the defendant's part.

He told jurors they would need to decide whether "the true reason Mr Hill crashed his aircraft was his dreadful negligence".

"At the crucial point when Mr Hill committed to the downward part of the loop there was a serious and obvious risk of death to those on the ground - a risk that was to be tragically realised," he said.

Karim Khalil QC, defending, argued g-forces acting upon the jet rendered Mr Hill "unable to properly and fully control the aircraft".

Mr Hill "was not in full control of his actions" and the errors were "simply too numerous" to have been made by a pilot of his experience unless he was suffering from "cognitive impairment", Mr Khalil told the jury.

'Misplaced criticism'

Andy Hill had "responded professionally" to errors made at previous air shows, the court heard

Jurors have been told Mr Hill was known to take risks, and a previous air show display had been halted due to his "dangerous" flying.

Defence barrister Mr Khalil said Mr Hill was "not a cavalier pilot", nor one "who plays fast and loose with the safety rules or the lives of others".

He said the defence would provide evidence to show criticisms of Mr Hill were either "wrong or misplaced".

Acknowledging previous mistakes made by Mr Hill at air shows, Mr Khalil said: "It would be a remarkable pilot indeed who had never made an error."

The defence argued Mr Hill had "responded professionally" and taken steps to avoid repeating the mistakes.

The trial is expected to last up to seven weeks.

(Top row, left to right) Matt Jones, Matthew Grimstone, Jacob Schilt, Maurice Abrahams, Richard Smith. (Bottom row, left to right) Mark Reeves, Tony Brightwell, Mark Trussler, Daniele Polito, Dylan Archer, Graham Mallinson

The men who died

• Matt Jones, a 24-year-old personal trainer

• Daniele Polito, 23 was travelling in the same car as Mr Jones

• Matthew Grimstone, 23, a Worthing United footballer who worked as a groundsman at Brighton & Hove Albion

• Jacob Schilt, also 23 and also a Worthing United player, was travelling to a match with Mr Grimstone

• Maurice Abrahams, 76, from Brighton, was a chauffeur on his way to pick up a bride on her wedding day

• Friends Richard Smith, 26, and Dylan Archer, 42, who were going for a bike ride on the South Downs

• Mark Reeves, 53, had ridden his motorcycle to the perimeter of Shoreham Airport to take photos of the planes

• Tony Brightwell, 53, from Hove was an aircraft enthusiast and had learnt to fly at Shoreham airfield

• Mark Trussler, 54, had gone to watch the display on his Suzuki motorbike and was standing next to the road

• James "Graham" Mallinson, 72, from Newick, was a photographer and retired engineer