Shoreham Airshow Crash Inquests Kick Off
The inquests into the tragic Shoreham Airshow disaster begin today at County Hall North in Horsham.
Deadliest UK Airshow Crash in Decades
On 22 August 2015, a former military jet, a Hawker Hunter T7, failed to complete a loop during a display at Shoreham Airport, smashing into vehicles on the busy A27 road. The crash killed 11 people and injured 16 others. It was the deadliest airshow accident in the UK since the 1952 Farnborough Airshow crash, which claimed 31 lives.
Pilot Andy Hill was critically injured but survived the horrific impact.
Inquest Details: Remembering the Victims
The first two sitting days will focus on family tributes to the 11 men who lost their lives:
- Anthony David Brightwell, 53, Hove
- Daniele Gaetano Polito, 23, Goring-by-Sea
- Dylan Archer, 42, Brighton
- Jacob Henry Schilt, 23, Brighton
- James Graham Mallinson, 72, Newick
- Mark Alexander Reeves, 53, Seaford
- Mark James Trussler, 54, Worthing
- Matthew Grimstone, 23, Brighton
- Matthew Wesley Jones, 24, Littlehampton
- Maurice Rex Abrahams, 76, Brighton
- Richard Jonathan Smith, 26, Hove
Factual evidence hearings will start on Monday 5 December 2022.
Coroner’s Statement: No Reinvestigation
At a pre-inquest review on 1 September, senior coroner Penelope Schofield stressed that the inquest “would not reinvestigate the crash.” She confirmed that the Air Accidents Investigation Branch had already provided full evidence on the cause.
