A very sad day for the Red Arrows

We watched the Bournemouth air show from the beach rather than the boat today as we have friends with a young baby staying. The red arrows were on first and did a fabulous display - I found it difficult to photograph as I enjoyed watching more but managed to catch this one.
Sadly a Red Arrow pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, was killed a short while later after his jet crashed in Bournemouth. I have no idea if he is in one of these planes but I have seen the Red Arrows on numerous occasions over the years and it is very sad that this accident has happened.

The assistant manager of a local pub told press that eyewitnesses reported the plane seemed to be guided away from houses in the village of Throop and from people walking near the riverbank, before it crashed...clearly averting further tragedy but perhaps costing the pilots life. Not surprisingly the planes have been grounded while accident investigation takes place. For a team who work so closely, the loss of Flt Lt Eggings must be felt severely. According to the news, his wife watched the display and in her statement said she felt extremely proud as she watched him.. so tragic that she wont be able to tell him. I understand as a very experienced member he flew the most difficult formation position.

The air show attracts hundreds of thousands to Bournemouth but does seem fated. It rained all of the airshow days last year and there was little flying.

This year Thursday saw flash flooding in Bournemouth and the show was cancelled. Later came the news that the Vulcan bomber had developed a fuel leak so would not be flying. Now the dreadful crash. My thoughts are with Mrs Eggerton and the parents of the pilot, and his team.

There were several RAF display teams at the show and scheduled to fly again tomorrow. The RAF has said it wishes them to perform tomorrow which I imagine will be very difficult having lost a colleague. I hope the accident doesn't put people off coming to watch.

Hopefully if the weather permits we will join the numerous boats anchored off shore to watch and hopefully at some point in the future the Red Arrows will be in the air again. They provide a fantastic display.

Bournemouth was packed with a heavy presence of support services - police, St John amubulance, paramedics, the coastguard, RNLI and lifeguards on the beach. We went up the cliff in the furnicular railway where a someone commented about the crowds to a policeman, also travelling up..his response? I beats controlling riots in London!