Red Arrows pilot sadly killed at RAF Scampton

[Rockville]

A Red Arrows pilot has been seriously injured at the aerobatic team's base at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, the BBC understands.

Full details have not yet emerged, but it is believed the incident happened on the ground, not in the air.

An MoD source has confirmed one pilot has been taken to Lincoln County Hospital.

Lincolnshire Police confirmed they were attending an incident at Scampton, but did not comment further.

East Midlands Ambulance crews were called the scene at about 11:09 GMT, along with the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance.

Winter training

An MoD spokesman said: "I can confirm there has been an incident at RAF Scampton. The RAF are investigating and will provide more details when they are available."

It comes a few months after Red Arrows pilot Jon Egging died after his plane crashed during a display near Bournemouth Airport.

A post-mortem examination showed the cause of death was multiple injuries.

Flt Lt Egging, who grew up in Southam, Warwickshire, joined the RAF in 2000 and served with IV (AC) Squadron, based at RAF Cottesmore, flying the Harrier GR9 in support of coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The Red Arrows team was formed in 1965 and have completed more than 4,300 displays in 53 countries.

The team completed their final display of the season in September and are currently carrying out their winter training at RAF Scampton.

BBC News,
8 November 2011 Last updated at 14:30 GMT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15 ... TWEET24440

As the news states that the pilot involded has deceased, the title of the topic has been changed accordingly

[Stratofreighter]

This may have been a "ground ejection"...

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Red ... y.html?dgf

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/ ... ishap.html

A Red Arrows pilot has been involved in an incident at RAF Scampton.

The Echo understands the pilot ejected from one of the jets while on the ground and his parachute failed to deploy.

[Andyco]

Photo on BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15640104

[RobertMB]

I hope the pilot will survive the tragic incident....

Aircraft involved is BAe Hawk T1 XX177

BR,

Robert

[Niek]

The MoD has just announced the death of the pilot on twitter....

[camel1]

Why an ejection, there seems nothing wrong with the aircraft?

Where they lined-up near the runway waiting for take-off or did it happen on the flightline?

Bad luck for the team this year.

[Arjan]

That is indeed sad news!
But you can clearly see that the ejection seat has been used (seat not secured??)

[Ramses2]

It seems my favourite team really has a extremely bad year. R.I.P

[frank kramer]

R.I.P

+1 unbelievable and very sad indeed

from the BBC:
A Red Arrows pilot has died after being ejected from an aircraft at the aerobatic team's base in Lincolnshire.

The RAF confirmed the pilot was ejected from a Hawk T1 jet while it was on the ground at RAF Scampton.

The Military Aviation Authority is carrying out an independent inquiry to determine the cause of the incident.

The RAF said its thoughts were with the pilot's family. It confirmed Red Arrows training had been suspended, but that RAF's Hawk T1 fleet would still fly.

The pilot's family has asked for a period of grace until his name is released.

Speaking about the inquiry, Gp Capt Simon Blake, from RAF Scampton, said: "It would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause of the incident until that inquiry is complete. The investigation will determine the facts.

"The pilot's next of kin have been informed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the pilot's family and friends at this difficult time."

[MainPower]

Very sad news indeed

Why an ejection, there seems nothing wrong with the aircraft?

You could wonder if this has something to do with it (source BBC):

In 2010, the Ministry of Defence suspended Hawk T1 flights across the country for nearly a week when a potential problem was detected with ejection seats.

[aerobaticteams]

A Red Arrows pilot Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham flying as Red 5, killed early morning today in an ejection seat incident at team’s home base Scampton. The injured pilot was transfer by helicopter to a hospital, when he died. The team now is on a winter training program, where the new team’s pilots for 2012 are in training.

Source: http://aerobaticteams.net/news/red-arro ... ident.html

[frank kramer]

And the official statement on the website of the Reds:

http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/teamnews/ind ... 86C7FD410D

[aerobaticteams]

The reason of the death of Red 5 Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham was due to the ejection seat parachute failed to open. He dies from multiply injures in the hospital. The incident occurs at the morning of 8th November, when the Red Arrows Hawk T1 aircraft taxi to the runaway for a training flight

http://aerobaticteams.net/news/red-arro ... chute.html

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/1 ... al-charges

Friday 15 March 2013 20.01 GMT

Red Arrows pilot death: prosecutors consider pursuing criminal charges

CPS mulls over death of Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, who died after being hurled 200ft into the air in ejector seat

Prosecutors are considering whether to bring criminal charges over the death of a Red Arrows pilot killed when the ejector seat of his jet fired as the plane sat on the tarmac at an RAF base.

Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, 35, was thrown 200ft in the air and then fell to the ground still strapped to the seat of his Hawk T1 plane without his parachute opening.
He was airlifted to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The death in November 2011 was the second in three months for the world famous aerial stunt team, a toll that raised questions from the independent Military Aviation Authority (MAA),
which has had concerns about the level of oversight and scrutiny of the elite unit.

The death of Cunningham has bewildered senior RAF officers who say the ejector seat in a Hawk is almost impossible to activate accidentally, requiring considerable pressure from the pilot.

The parachute should have opened regardless.