A vintage fighter jet crashed killing 11 men when it hit a road and burst into a fireball during a failed airshow stunt purely because of pilot error, a court heard.

The pilot, Andrew Hill, was flying the Hawker Hunter too low when he lost control flying over the A27 during the Shoreham airshow in 2015, jurors were told at the Old Bailey, London, on Tuesday.

The fighter jet, dating from the 1950s, plummeted on to the West Sussex dual carriageway while it was performing a loop stunt at 1.22pm on 22 August.

Hill, a trained Royal Air Force instructor, who was a British Airways captain at the time, was thrown clear of the aircraft but taken to hospital with serious injuries and placed into an induced coma. He was later discharged from hospital.

The court was told, as the trial opened on Wednesday, that Hill, although an experienced pilot, had been known to “take risks”; one of his airshow displays the year before the accident had been brought to a halt because of his “dangerous” flying.

The 54-year-old, of Sandon, near Buntingford, Hertfordshire, is standing trial after denying 11 charges of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Members of the victims’ families gathered at the Old Bailey as the prosecutor, Tom Kark QC, opened the case.

Describing the date of the event as a “beautiful sunny Saturday”, Kark told jurors Hill was part way through his display when the crash took place.

Kark said: “The aircraft disintegrated and that crash caused a massive fireball. The effects of that crash were devastating and 11 people lost their lives as a result. Mr Hill miraculously escaped, because his cockpit separated from the rest of the aircraft ending in a ditch, his seat was thrown out of the cockpit and he was left lying on the ground. He was saved by the bravery of firefighters, paramedics and a doctor who managed to get to him despite the fires still burning all around.”

The prosecutor said the plane was in “excellent working condition”, adding: “Until the moment that it crashed, there was nothing wrong with the flying capabilities of that aircraft. The crash happened purely because of pilot error. The pilot was attempting a manoeuvre called a bent loop which requires the aircraft to reach a specific height before it begins its downward trajectory. Mr Hill did not reach the height required, but nevertheless continued the manoeuvre.

“In short, he did not have the height to pull the aircraft out of its dive, back to the level flight at a safe height and, as a result, he crashed into the ground. The prosecution case is that it was Mr Hill’s serious negligence that led directly to the loss of those 11 lives.”

Hill, who sat in the dock wearing a black suit, blue and white striped shirt, blue tie and glasses, will be described as a “highly competent and experienced pilot”, jurors were told. He served in the Royal Air Force between 1985 and 1994 where he trained to fly, becoming an instructor and fast-jet pilot. During his military career he completed more than 1,600 hours in planes, which also included a Jet Provost and a Harrier. He was also a British Airways airbus captain. But when the crash took place Hill “fell far below his usual standards”, Kark said.

Hill’s display authorisation, a licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, allowed him to fly the plane at a minimum height of 100ft during fly-pasts and 500ft during standard manoeuvres such as the loop during a performance.

Kark said there was a “heavy responsibility” on a pilot’s shoulders to plan displays carefully so that no one was put at risk and it had been Hill’s duty to ensure the plane remained at the height permitted and did not breach no-fly zones around Shoreham airport.

Although Hill was described as a careful and competent pilot, Kark said there were times when he had “taken risks” or flown in a way he would not be expected to. A year before the crash, Kark said, Hill, at Southport airshow, in Merseyside, “performed a dangerous manoeuvre” causing organisers to halt the display by issuing what is known as a “stop, stop, stop” call.

He added: “Such a call is a rare event and was issued on that occasion because the manoeuvre he performed took him far too close to the crowd and was dangerous. “Unfortunately, on this occasion – in 2015 at Shoreham – no one had time to call out a stop and his display ended in tragedy.”

The victims were Maurice Abrahams, 76; Dylan Archer, 42; Tony Brightwell, 53; Matthew Grimstone, 23; Matt Jones, 24; Graham Mallinson, 72; Daniele Polito, 23; Mark Reeves, 53; Jacob Schilt, 23; Richard Smith, 26; and Mark Trussler, 54, who all lived in Sussex.

The trial, which continues, is being heard before the senior judge Mr Justice Andrew Edis QC and could last eight weeks.

Jurors were told the Air Accident Investigations Branch’s findings on the crash, which were previously published, would not form part of the prosecution’s evidence and should be disregarded.