Shocking news this morning, the Arrows have enjoyed 33 years without a fatality, but it appears that some sort of systems failure caused this plane to crash after the display.
I think the Red Arrows display team are wonderful – the best aerobatic team in the world in fact, but apart from their obvious flying skills, there’s that human side to the pilots inside those icons of flying perfection which isn’t always appreciated.
There was an Airshow at Prestwick Airport in 1969 or 70, and as the only young (and female) local councillor, I was asked to be at the pre-show reception staged by the town council itself. Present were all the participants in the event, including the Frecce Tricolori (Italian display team) and our own Red Arrows.
Not speaking Italian (and the ‘Frecces’ not speaking English), I found myself chatting to a very personable young New Zealander called Euan Perraux. Being one of the few married men in the team then, he wasn’t rushing off to have a drink with the RAFA girls who were giving out canapés, but talked proudly of his family, including his twins. He was a shy and modest man in his RAF uniform, and to me slightly resembled John Nichol (who was shot down and captured in the Gulf War).
It was a dreadful shock to me when I heard in January 1971 that he had been killed. -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ed-Arrows.html. Until yesterday, only one other fatal accident had befallen the team.
It was especially shocking for us, having watched a perfect display of the team yesterday from (albeit many miles away) Barton on Sea clifftops. Here are some of the pics I took from that place, the middle two being from the Red Arrows display, with Jon Egging, as Red 4, on the right wing of Diamond Nine.
When, after their performance, we heard on the Air Festival radio there was ‘an issue’ at the airport causing a disruption to the timetable, so moved across to Radio Solent to find out why – and heard the news about the crash.
Of course, we hoped he’d managed to eject, but as the evening lengthened we realised there had been a horrendously sad ending to a wonderful display – and I remembered that young airman in Prestwick all those years ago.
Last edited by Catherine; 22-08-2011 at 06:55 AM.
It is not an easy work - always very risky.
Very sad story Catherine, having said that, they obviously love their work and know that there is more than an element of risk in it. Feel very sad for his widow.
Yes. She looks a lovely girl, and made a very loving and sincere statement after the incident about her brave husband who had served in Afghanistan .
We were just talking about that.
The thing is, we're F1 fans - and F1 is also a dangerous sport. However safety has been such a big issue in in F1 over the past 17 years that, despite some horrendous accidents, no driver has lost his life.
Unlike the Red Arrows, who are serving RAF airmen and paid as such, many F1 drivers command salaries of £16m and more, far out of proportion to the demand of their fan base. I wonder if, at Silverstone, with the Red Arrows flying overhead before the start of the race, any of those overpaid F1 'pilots' (as they are called across the Channel) gave a thought to the job those proud and unselfish guys were doing over their heads - with never a whinge to be heard from one of them!
It's the same with all our 'sportsmen' though - no longer do they play football/other for the honour of being in a team, but demand salaries higher than nearly everyone else in the country, fleecing ordinary families who wish to follow them, only to behave badly on and off the field in return.
How they could all do with taking a leaf out of the book of the guys in red..gif "Smile")
Just read this;
Red Arrows will take to skies again - Yahoo!
No more news re the cause of the accident, but it's good to hear the team will continue flying.
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