Tim Loughton MP (East Worthing and Shoreham) has welcomed today’s findings the AAIB’s second interim report into the tragic Shoreham Air Show accident, which occurred in his constituency last August and claimed the lives of 11 men, making it the biggest civilian loss of life in the UK since 7/7.
Tim commented:
“The memory of the tragic events of 22 August still loom large for the local community in and around Shoreham and the thoughts of all of us remain with the families of the 11 victims.
“This report, as with the impending coroner’s inquiry, will inevitably reopen wounds that are still raw with those close to the men who lost their lives and it is important that we get to the full truth swiftly and help provide some form of closure for everyone.
“It is important that we acknowledge that this is the second of the interim reports published by the AAIB and their meticulous and thorough job continues. We still do not know exactly what caused the accident to happen in the way it did on that day and we should avoid jumping to conclusions about who or what might be at fault. In particular, police investigations are continuing to determine if any criminal acts have played a part. However this report does raise some very worrying questions about the safety procedures that were followed and which may have had an impact on events.
“It is clear that crucial risk assessments were deficient and that certain processes that should have been carried out were just not happening. I know that the organisers of the air show at Shoreham are some of the most experienced and skilled people in this industry and safety of those in the air and on the ground has always been of paramount importance.
“It is the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who are responsible for the safety of air shows, they produce the regulations, they issue the licences and they presumably should be monitoring implementation and its effectiveness. With this in mind, I was alarmed to hear how few shows are actually attended by their staff.
“A striking deficiency appears to be that, whilst risk assessments were carried out at Shoreham, which took into account things like the proximity of the congested A27 and spectators watching from outside the Air Show perimeter, the risk assessment was not tailored to the different types of aircraft taking part. Extraordinarily, the flying display director does not appear to have been fully appraised of the exact manoeuvres and routes to be taken by individual aircraft in order to make sure appropriate risk assessments have been drawn up and acted on in good time. That surely is just basic common sense and good practice so why was the CAA not making sure it was happening in practice?
“The report also raises concerns about why the plane was flying at such a low altitude over the crowded A27 and apparently minimum heights for high powered jet aircraft were not observed as was queried right after the immediate crash.
“It also seems strange that a full record is not kept when problems occur at other air shows and certain routines are stopped so that lessons can be leaned elsewhere. These are all recommendations that are made in the report but which basic common sense suggests should have been in operation well before now.
“Whilst I will reserve final judgement about the causes of the crash until all the information has been analysed and published there are urgent measures that the CAA need to look at in their own procedures and need to be introduced or enforced to make sure similar air shows can take place safely.
“It is important that we have a proportionate response though so that smaller air shows are not regulated out of sight in what has been an otherwise very safe activity over the last 60 years, which brings pleasure to many millions of families and flying enthusiasts.
“I will certainly be seeking an early meeting with the Head of the CAA and the Transport Minister to make sure that these considerations are being pursued urgently. We owe it to the memory of the victims at Shoreham to get this right and to do everything humanly possible to prevent such a rare tragedy happening again in the future.”