Shoreham air crash trial: Pilot Andrew Hill admits mistake at Southport show
Published on: February 14, 2019
The pilot of a plane which crashed at the Shoreham air show has admitted he “embarrassed” himself by flying too close to the crowd at a previous show.
Andrew Hill told the Old Bailey he had a “nasty dawning moment” as he realised he was heading towards the “crowd line” at the Southport Air Show in 2014.
He said he turned his plane around and ended the display shortly before being ordered to by ground controllers.
Mr Hill, 54, denies 11 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.
Eleven men were killed when his Hawker Hunter jet crashed on to the A27 on 22 August 2015 after failing to complete an aerobatic manoeuvre.
The prosecution has produced evidence about a series of incidents which it says show Mr Hill had a “cavalier attitude” to safety.
Mr Hill, from Sandon in Hertfordshire, told jurors that after landing his plane at the Southport air show he discussed his flying “relatively briefly” with an inspector from the Civil Aviation Authority, George Duncan.
Mr Duncan had powers to penalise Mr Hill for the breach of procedures but no formal steps were taken, the court heard.
Mr Hill was due to fly again the following day.
The flying control committee, he said, was happy if the inspector was happy, but Mr Hill admitted: “I was not very content with myself.”
The prosecution also accused him of another breach in procedure at the Shoreham air show in 2014.
The Old Bailey was told he flew over Lancing College, near the airport, despite it being prohibited, but Mr Hill denied this had happened.
However, jurors heard him agree that a video from a camera fitted in his cockpit made it look liked he had.
Mr Hill said: “When I first viewed the video I thought that looks strange… that looks like I got very close to Lancing College from the video but I had in my recollection that I had been nowhere near it.”
The jury was shown the video and Mr Hill demonstrated from landmarks in the area his belief that he did not fly over the college.
The trial continues.