THE A27 will be closed around the scene of the Shoreham Airshow crash until at least Wednesday, Highways England has confirmed.
Advertisement
The Air Accident Investigation Bureau is encouraging people who attended the airshow not to post graphic photos and videos of the fiery crash online, but rather to get in contact with investigators so they can determine whether the footage is useful.
British police on Sunday said the death toll from an airshow crash is “highly likely” to increase after a fighter jet slammed into a busy main road on Saturday.
Stephen Jones, another witness, added: “He made a quick pass along the crowd line and pulled up into a loop and as he came out of it, I thought, “this is wrong, you’re too low, you’re not going to make this”.
The initial death toll was seven.
“A crane will be brought in to lift the wreckage of the Hunter jet on Monday and as we have already indicated, it is quite possible that we will discover more fatalities”.
“There is debris and damage littered everywhere so it’s an incredibly traumatic incident”, Barry said. It is not known why the pilot, said to be an experienced former Royal Air Force pilot, lost control of the craft.
Among the dead are Worthing United footballers Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt, both 23, who were on their way to play in a match for the club, and personal trainer Matt Jones, 24.
Mr Jones was living in Shepparton in regional Victoria after moving to Cairns from his hometown of Littlehampton, West Sussex in 2014.
Mr Grimstone’s family said football was his passion in life and he loved working at Brighton & Hove Albion as well as playing for Worthing United.
Several cars were hit by the burning aircraft, one of which was a Daimler wedding vehicle on its way to pick up a bride to take her to her wedding.
Sussex Police and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch are investigating.
It has not been established whether the pilot activated his ejector seat or not.
In Dittingen, Switzerland, on Sunday, one pilot died when two small planes collided in the air and crashed at an airshow, police said.
Advertisement
The pilot was airlifted to hospital where he is in a critical condition, Sussex Police said, though they were unable to say whether he had ejected from the plane. Removal of those who died will carry on today and is likely to continue throughout the day tomorrow.
