Red Arrows blunted this summer as new safety rules see shows cancelled
Exclusive: New rules brought in to protect public following the Shoreham disaster last August
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Your support makes all the difference.Much-anticipated air displays at some of Britain’s seaside resorts have been cancelled this summer because of new restrictions on air displays by the Red Arrows.
Following the Shoreham disaster last August, the aviation authorities have brought in new rules to limit the risk to the public.
During a display at the Shoreham Air Show in 2015, a 1959 Hawker Hunter jet crashed on the A27 trunk road, killing 11 people. The Air Accident Investigation Branch is still studying the sequence of events at the Sussex aerodrome. But the Civil Aviation Authority has already imposed 29 safety measures, which increase separation between aircraft and the public, and constrain the speed and energy of manoeuvres.
The reduced room to manoeuvre has triggered the cancellation of the the Red Arrows’ display at the Farnborough Air Show, ending a tradition that has endured for six decades.
The RAF Air Events Team is warning prospective visitors to the Hampshire show: “Flypasts and ground activities are planned by the team, including engaging with adults and young people, but no aerobatic displays by the Red Arrows will take place at the event.”
One pilot on an online forum said: “This knee-jerk reaction will be the nail in the coffin for many more air shows this year.”
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) concedes: “We recognise that these changes are likely to cause some event organisers to have to make changes to display content.”
At seaside resorts, the new rules typically mean the displays must move out to sea. Organisers pay almost £10,000 for a visit from the Red Arrows, with insurance adding to the cost, and some feel the expenditure can no longer be justified.
Fowey Regatta Committee has already stood down the Red Arrows from the traditional display at the Cornish resort each August, saying: “Our only means of achieving the safety standard is to move the display out over the sea which simply won't be the same.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Fowey Regatta Organising Committee submitted an application to the RAF Events Team requesting a display by the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team in 2016. Their bid for a display was successful, however, the organisers of the regatta made the decision to withdraw their request.”
The Whitby Regatta Committee has cancelled flying displays by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Red Arrows at this year’s event in August. The committee said it did not have enough time to implement the new safety measures, but hoped that flying displays will return to Whitby in 2017.
The Red Arrows were also due to fly at the Minehead Summer Festival in Somerset in August. The event has been cancelled due to the new rules.
Dame Deirdre Hutton, Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, said: “Every time a regulator is faced with a tragic accident, they must consider the balance between further regulatory controls versus the constraints that might be placed on activities that people value.”
Before Shoreham, the last fatal incident involving members of the public at an air show was at Farnborough in 1952.
Additional research by Calum Hill
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