1952
   
Vol XIV
             

 

   

 

   

 

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1953

1952 Farnborough Air Show

At least 27 people were killed and 63 injured after a jet fighter disintegrated and fell into the crowd

The de Havilland 110 fighter had just broken the sound barrier when it broke up over the spectators, showering them with debris.

Among the dead were the pilot, John Derry and the flight test observer Anthony Richards.

The two airmen had completed one fly-past in which they amazed 130,000 spectators by breaking the sound barrier to produce a sonic boom.

But during the second low-level fly-past when the plane was travelling at about 500 miles an hour (804kph) over the aerodrome, its nose lifted and the whole plane disintegrated.

The two engines broke lose and one plunged into a dense crowd watching on a hillside. The other engine fell on open ground but other membrs of the public were injured by parts of the cockpit.

Fire engines and ambulances arrived within minutes and after a short break the air display continued.

The disaster prompted the introduction of stringent safety measures to protect spectators at air shows and no member of the public has been killed since at a British air show.

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