LONDON—The Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Red Arrows aerobatic team will not fly a full routine at this year’s Farnborough International Airshow.
Due to heightened concerns about urban areas around the air show site—as well as increased public awareness of air show safety following the crash of a Hawker Hunter at the August 2015 Shoreham Airshow—the nine-ship Red Arrows team will be limited to flypasts only, RAF and Farnborough show organizers confirmed June 15.
Air Vice-Marshal Andy Turner, commanding officer of the RAF’s No. 22 (Training) Group and in charge of the aerobatic team, said the accident at Shoreham and urbanization around the Farnborough venue led the Red Arrows to “recalculate what is safe, sensible or appropriate. “In our judgment, it is no longer tolerable in terms of how we judge risk to third parties, infrastructure and people,” he told journalists in London.
The crash at Shoreham, which killed 11 people, has led to a slew of new regulations looking at risk assessments, safety reporting and increased levels of competency for aerial-display pilots and directors.
“We are in a new place. A tragic accident like Shoreham has led to changes in all of us, in both behaviors and activities,” Turner added. “Frankly, from the Red Arrows perspective, it would not be possible to countenance the types of incidents that could occur.”
The decision, made May 25, followed risk assessments at the Farnborough show. “We give our full support to this difficult decision. It had to be made,” said Paul Everitt, CEO of ADS Group and chairman of the air show.
The changes end more than 60 years of displays by RAF aerobatic teams at the U.K.’s foremost aerospace trade show. Instead, the Red Arrows will perform flypasts with other aircraft, including the RAF’s Airbus A400M and Voyager transports. Plans also have been set in motion for a joint flypast with Airbus’ A350.
The broader implications of the team’s decision are yet to be felt. Show organizers say no other flight demonstrators have withdrawn or expressed concerns about the redesigned airspace. But companies wishing to demonstrate aircraft at Farnborough are only now beginning to work up display routines. If they cannot make their displays work with the strict new criteria, they could well withdraw.
The Red Arrows perform the same display at every venue, only adjusting it to meet weather constraints. Changing it to meet the needs of Farnborough would have meant turning the team’s performance into a display by a single aircraft.
Turner denied that the RAF’s Eurofighter Typhoon display withdrew for the same reason. Since a BAE Systems Typhoon demonstration was already scheduled, “There was no real value” in having the RAF Typhoon perform at the same venue, he said.
BAE Systems began live-flying to prepare its Typhoon demonstration for Farnborough earlier this month.
The primary challenge for the Red Arrows was squeezing their large formations into the redesigned airspace at Farnborough. The new airspace keeps high-energy aerobatic maneuvers away from built-up areas, but is extremely compact, and not big enough for large formations. Built-up areas can still be overflown, but within the rules of the air.
Turner said analysis of other venues had shown there would be no impact at other U.K. air show venues.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 display will not be affected by the changes, Turner said. The aircraft will perform a vertical takeoff and landing. Senior RAF officers are visiting Beaufort, South Carolina, this week to sign off on the demonstration, which has been worked up by British and U.S. Marine pilots.
Until Shoreham, no one attending a British air show had died since the wreckage of a de Havilland DH.110 crashed into the crowd in 1952 at Farnborough.
The Hunter at Shoreham did not crash onto the crowds at the show venue—which most air show regulations are designed to safeguard—but onto a road outside the airfield where people had gathered to watch.
Additional regulations still could be imposed. The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is awaiting the findings of the U.K. Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB), which is leading the inquiry into the Shoreham crash. An interim report by investigators urged the CAA not only to increase separation distances from displays to crowds, but also to introduce U.S.-style airspace boxes in which air displays take place.
The CAA says it will review all the actions and the AAIB’s recommendations to produce revised air-display guidance later this year. The AAIB’s report into the crash is expected in the coming months.