Red 4, Flt Lt Jon Egging, aged 33, died on August 20, 2011 after a celebratory team "carousel" type manoeuvre close to Bournemouth International Airport went tragically wrong. His Hawk aircraft crashed into the ground not far from the runway of the airport at which he was due to land on his return from a display over Bournemouth followed by a fly past over a rural Dorset town.
Red Arrows Display over Bournemouth before Crash of Red 4
The British Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, fly a nine ship formation of Hawk T1 aircraft painted in a distinctive red colour with a sneaky white "go-faster" type stripe and a bit of blue sprayed about - particularly on the tail. At 12.50, almost to the second, on August 20, 2011, the nine Hawks took off from Bournemouth International Airport for a scheduled display as part of the fourth Air Festival held in the town. The display was followed by a flypast over the Dorset town of Drimpton.
It is a tradition of the Red Arrows team on their approach to Bournemouth International Airport after performing a display or flypast, that, if air space, weather and Air Traffic Control are all agreeable, the pilots perform a bit of a "twirl" as a thank you for the airport's hospitality. They prepared to do exactly that on the afternoon of August 20, 2011 after recovering to Bournemouth from their Drimpton fly past.
Red 4 Pilot Dies After His Plane Crashes by River Next to Airport
But, something went tragically wrong on August 20th as Red 4 pilot, Jon Egging, undertook that "twirl" manoeuvre as a salute to airport personnel. His plane crashed and he died. It is unclear, at this stage, if the cause of that fatal crash was due to mechanical failure, a catastrophic bird strike, or pilot error. What is known is that, for whatever reason, Red 4, crash-landed in a field on the banks of a river, near the Bournemouth suburb of Throop, just a few hundred yards (as the crow flies) from the airport runway.
A source close to the incident intimated that Egging banked "steeply to the right" in order to avoid crash landing into houses which, if it had happened, would have caused a high casualty rate.
It has also been suggested by sources close to this author that the remaining eight aircraft could be grounded until such time as mechanical failure as the cause of Red 4's catastrophic crash has been discounted. A fact which could mean that the display by the remaining eight Red Arrows pilots and Hawks scheduled for Bournemouth Air Festival on August 22nd may now not take place.
Elaine Findlay - An expert cook, Findlay's passion for food is evidenced by the size of her kitchen and her library of old recipe books
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