Gulf War veteran pilot killed after historic aircraft crashes in front of 600 stunned spectators at airshow



Former RAF pilot Trevor Roche killed as rare 1923 de-Haviland DH53 plunges into a field

Rare aircraft had been a showpiece exhibit in aerodrome's museum and has a history of cutting out mid-air



Airshow near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, immediately called of following crash

Mr Roche was a British Airways pilot and Gulf War veteran

A former Gulf War pilot was killed when the vintage wooden aircraft he was flying crashed in front of hundreds of spectators at an air show yesterday.

Trevor Roche had been in the air for only a few minutes in one of the rarest planes in the world when he lost control and plunged to the ground 300 yards from crowds.

The former British Airways pilot had taken to the skies in a 1923 de Havilland Humming Bird which had a history of crashing.

Tragic: Trevor Roche in the de-Haviland DH53 Hummingbird which crash-landed in a field yesterday at an air show as 600 people watched on

More than 600 onlookers watched in horror as the aircraft’s engine faltered and it plunged into a field.

Emergency vehicles raced to the wreckage but Mr Roche, who was flying solo, was believed to have been killed instantly.

The Military Pageant Air Show at the Old Warden Aerodrome near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, was cancelled immediately.

The de Havilland DH53 Humming Bird was one of only a handful left in the world and is thought to have been the only one still flying.

After the crash it emerged that it had a history of the engine cutting out in mid-air and was deemed unfit to fly in 2000. It had been kept as a static exhibit at an aeronautical museum at the aerodrome which is home to the Shuttleworth Collection.

But pilots continued to get behind its controls and it tentatively returned to the skies in 2002, when its engine failed again.

Tragedy: The wrecked de Haviland DH53 Hummingbird plane broken on the ground just 300 yards from where spectators were standing

Crash probe: Emergency workers on the scene after former Gulf War pilot Trevor Roche was killed

Wreckage: An Air Accident Investigation Board probe into the crash is underway after pilot Trevor Roche was killed instantly

Investigation: A group of emergency workers begin to examine the wreckage of the aircraft yesterday

At the time Andy Sephton, former chief pilot for the Shuttleworth Collection, revealed: ‘It has a high propensity to turn over.

‘It’s crashed several times, breaking one pilot’s legs and trapping another upside down in a potato field with fuel dribbling over him.’

The de Havilland Humming Bird was decommissioned by the RAF in 1927.

The one which crashed yesterday was a prototype.

A man who wanted to remain anonymous said only very experienced airmen were allowed to fly planes in the collection.

He said: ‘I’m a pilot and they wouldn’t let me out there. It’s very experienced pilots who do this stuff.

‘They fly these aircraft on a voluntary basis and it doesn’t matter which pilot it is that’s flying, you wouldn’t be able to stop them getting into the aircraft.’

Tragedy: Pilot Trevor Roche was killed in the accident at Shuttleworth airfield, near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, today

He added: ‘The older a plane is the harder it is to fly and any pilot who takes to the skies knows of the risks.’

One man who saw the crash said Mr Roche had been ‘a very experienced pilot for a long time’.

Mr Roche, who was in his 40s, became chief pilot for the Shuttleworth Collection in 1995, but stepped down two years ago.

The former RAF Tornado pilot flew in the first Gulf War before becoming a commercial pilot with British Airways, flying Boeing 767s and 777s. Aerodrome bosses said in a statement yesterday: ‘The Shuttleworth Collection can confirm that earlier today an aircraft experienced difficulties and crashed at the airfield.

‘Today’s planned air show has been cancelled to allow accident investigators to assess the scene.’