Plane crash at Carfest

{SAS}TB

{SAS}TB

{SAS}TB

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A plane that was part of a display team has crashed at the CarFest motoring event in Cheshire.
Police have confirmed they are attending an incident at Oulton Park where the event is being held.
There is no confirmation of any injuries or the type of plane involved. People attending have posted pictures on Twitter of smoke in the sky.
Emergency services are at the scene. The BBC understands the crash happened just after 14:00 BST.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-33748256

Some people I know are there and are OK despite seeing the crash, no news on any injuries or casualties

E: some more info here

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...-news/reports-plane-crash-oulton-park-9771448

Looks like a display jet but not clear if the pilot ejected
 
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Phew...My mate is big on going to these car shows. Just text him and he was at home.

cheers for the info {SAS}TB
 
Not great to hear. I can't find the list of what was flying, but lets hope if it was a jet (black smoke like that would be rare out of a piston aircraft) there is a good chance it had an ejector seat.

Not a good few days for general aviation, AAIB will be keeping busy :(
 
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That can only be the Gnat display team based at North Weald. Their Facebook page seems to be people messaging their concerns right now so I can only assume.

They are fitted with ejector seats and there are reports that the pilot got out. I hope so, my fingers are crossed.
 
Folland Gnat plane thought to be plane involved
The plane thought to be involved in the incident is part of the Gnat Display Team.

They are based at North Weald Airfield, and part of the Heritage Aircraft Trust. The display team is made up of Folland Gnat aircraft, which is a British swept wing subsonic jet trainer and light fighter.

The Gnat Display Team, based at North Weald Airfield, is part of The Heritage Aircraft Trust.

It was never used as a fighter by the RAF, but was heavily used as a trainer.

The aircraft first flew in 1955. It was used as part of the Red Arrow aerobatic display team until 1979, when it was replaced by the Hawk T1.
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and

Cheshire police have released a statement and said the plane crashed in a wooded area near Oulton Park.

The statement says: "Shortly after 2pm we received reports of a plane having crashed in a wooded area near the CarFest North site.

"Officers are currently at the scene working to find out what has happened.

"The incident is in a very early stage and more details will be released when they become available.”
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Hope everyone is OK
 
About the only good thing I can think of is that Oulton Park is surrounded by farm land so the pilot would have had an easier job of getting away from people - assuming he had time to react to whatever went wrong.
 
Sky news is reporting the pilot did not eject and died.

I spent a lot of time flying from the same airfield that these Gnat's were based and I saw them fly and practice a lot. There were utterly professional and dedicated to maintaining and flying these classic jets to an exceptional standard, all of which just makes this even more tragic.

Very sad.
 
What's the betting that he stayed with it to make sure it was clear of people?

Seem to remember a tornado crew doing that some years back.
 
I've seen the video of the crash and it looks like an accelerated stall with the inboard wing dropping. Speculation, will wait for the AAIB to report.

They've just posted this on their Facebook Page:
The Heritage Aircraft Trust, operator of the Gnat Display Team is very sad to announce the loss of one of its display pilots, Kevin Whyman, at an airshow for CarFest at Oulton Park today.
Heritage Aircraft Trust will be working with the Civil Aviation Authority and the Air Accidents Investigation Board to determine the cause of the accident.
Kevin was a Royal Air Force trained fast jet pilot whose enthusiasm for flying the Folland Gnat was infectious. He will be greatly missed by his family, the Team and many friends.
Kevin leaves a wife and young daughter. Please respect the privacy of family members and of the Team at this most difficult time.
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The Funktopus said:
RIP to the pilot. :(

A question. Can civilian owned former military aircraft even have operational ejector seats in the UK?
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Not certain on this one, they still have them fitted but probably have the actual ejecty bits removed as far as i know.

They are horrendously labour intensive to maintain to a safe standard anyway

e: after a bit of reading up, yes they are legal.
 
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Crashes at airshows. Seems to be a not uncommon occurance. Remember one at the airshow here a few years back been hearing planes all day but this was different a low engine note that didn't sound right and too low, we didn't know it at the time what was happening but we had an inkling something wasn't right. Anyway we learnt later it was a Lancaster bomber that crashed with the loss of all aboard.

R.I.P. to all concerned this time.
 
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