Incidents and Accidents
During the Farnborough Airshow on 6 September 1952, a de Havilland Sea Vixen crashed. Following a demonstration of its ability to break the sound barrier, the aircraft disintegrated, killing 31 people, including the crew of two: test pilot and record breaker John Derry and Tony Richards. This incident led to a major restructuring of the safety regulations for air shows in the UK and since this crash no spectator has died as a result of an airshow accident in the UK.
During the 4 September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, a de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo was damaged beyond repair when it struck Runway 25 during landing after a steep short-final descent while demonstrating its STOL capabilities to spectators and customers. The nosegear collapsed, followed by failure of the wing spar on both sides near the fuselage, both propellers shedding blades and the plane skidding to a halt on the runway. The 2 crew and one passenger survived the crash; nobody else was injured. The accident was attributed to pilot error with gusty wind conditions as a major factor.
Read more about this topic: Farnborough Airport
Famous quotes containing the words incidents and/or accidents:
“An element of exaggeration clings to the popular judgment: great vices are made greater, great virtues greater also; interesting incidents are made more interesting, softer legends more soft.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“Depression moods lead, almost invariably, to accidents. But, when they occur, our mood changes again, since the accident shows we can draw the world in our wake, and that we still retain some degree of power even when our spirits are low. A series of accidents creates a positively light-hearted state, out of consideration for this strange power.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)