Aircraft crashes during mock dogfight at Shoreham Airshow, United Kingdom
{{date|September 15, 2007}}
[[Image:Shoreham07 Missing man formation.jpg|right|thumb|275px|Shoreham Airshow 2007, missing man formation. {{Image source|[http://www.flickr.com/photos/65414527@N00/1391257360/ Julian Berry]}}]]
An aircraft dating back to the [[w:World War II|Second World War]] has crashed at [[w:Shoreham Airshow|Shoreham Airshow]] in [[w:West Sussex|West Sussex]], [[United Kingdom]] whilst participating in a mock dogfight, killing the pilot. The plane was with the [[w:Royal Air Forces Association |Royal Air Forces Association ]] and had been performing in a [[w:Battle of Britain|Battle of Britain]] display.

Witness Tim Deakin described the chain of events to BBC News 24: "The main point of the show was a Second World War dogfight between some [[w:Messerschmitt|Messerschmitt]]s and some [[w:Spitfire|Spitfire]]s. Midway through the dogfight one of the planes, I'm not sure which one, literally, turned quite steeply, went into almost a straight dive and ploughed into a hill probably about a mile from the airfield. There's still quite a bit of confusion about which aircraft it was."

Witness Holly Russell had some more details: "They were doing a mock dog fight and it looked like the plane was doing a dive, but it was going too fast and smashed straight into the ground. It was nose down... There was a mushroom cloud of black smoke."

Authorities could not confirm any injuries or fatalities, but the [[w:missing man formation|missing man formation]] was performed in a flyby shortly after the crash. The plane went down into a field near the [[w:A27 road|A27]], about a mile from the airfield. Emergency services and a police helicopter attended the scene. The plane was a Hurricane, one of three performing alongside the two Spitfires and five Messerschmitts.

The show is thought to have been attended by about 20,000 people, and was delayed by about 30 minutes after the crash. However, eventually a tannoy ([[w:Public address|PA]]) announcement stated that the pilot "would have wanted them to carry on", and the show continued. The crash occurred on the first day of the two days the annual airshow is scheduled to take.

Officials have requested for anyone filming the airshow at the time to come forward in the hope that the footage will assist in investigating the cause of the crash.

{{haveyoursay}}
== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/6996734.stm
|title=WWII plane crashes near airshow 
|author=
|pub=BBC News Online
|date=September 15, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/15/ncrash115.xml
|title=Pilot killed in air show plane crash
|author=Jasper Copping
|pub=The Telegraph
|date=September 15, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1691577.0.plane_crashes_at_shoreham_air_show.php
|title=Plane crashes at Shoreham air show
|author=
|pub=The Argus
|date=September 15, 2007}}

==External links==
*[http://www.shorehamairshow.com/ Shoreham Airshow 2007 official site]

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[[Category:Disasters and accidents]]
[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]] [[Category:Iain Macdonald (Wikinewsie)]]
[[Category:Culture and entertainment]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Airshows]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:West Sussex]]
[[Category:England]]
[[Category:Shoreham]]
[[Category:Shoreham Airshow]]
Shoreham Airshow 2007, missing man formation. 
An aircraft dating back to the Second World War has crashed at Shoreham Airshow in West Sussex, United Kingdom whilst participating in a mock dogfight, killing the pilot. The plane was with the Royal Air Forces Association  and had been performing in a Battle of Britain display.

Witness Tim Deakin described the chain of events to BBC News 24: "The main point of the show was a Second World War dogfight between some Messerschmitts and some Spitfires. Midway through the dogfight one of the planes, I'm not sure which one, literally, turned quite steeply, went into almost a straight dive and ploughed into a hill probably about a mile from the airfield. There's still quite a bit of confusion about which aircraft it was."

Witness Holly Russell had some more details: "They were doing a mock dog fight and it looked like the plane was doing a dive, but it was going too fast and smashed straight into the ground. It was nose down... There was a mushroom cloud of black smoke."

Authorities could not confirm any injuries or fatalities, but the missing man formation was performed in a flyby shortly after the crash. The plane went down into a field near the A27, about a mile from the airfield. Emergency services and a police helicopter attended the scene. The plane was a Hurricane, one of three performing alongside the two Spitfires and five Messerschmitts.

The show is thought to have been attended by about 20,000 people, and was delayed by about 30 minutes after the crash. However, eventually a tannoy (PA) announcement stated that the pilot "would have wanted them to carry on", and the show continued. The crash occurred on the first day of the two days the annual airshow is scheduled to take.

Officials have requested for anyone filming the airshow at the time to come forward in the hope that the footage will assist in investigating the cause of the crash.
Disasters and accidents Aviation United Kingdom Iain Macdonald (Wikinewsie) Culture and entertainment World War II History Airshows Aviation accidents and incidents West Sussex England Shoreham Shoreham Airshow