Red Arrows death may have been caused by two different faults

Review hears that design flaw in firing handle or in parachute may have been responsible for death of Sean CunninghamTwo separate faults could have led to the death of a Red Arrows pilot who was thrown 60 metres into the air from his plane and then fell to the ground still strapped to his seat without his parachute opening, a pre-inquest review has heard.A design fault with the firing handle may have caused Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham's seat to eject while his Hawk T1 plane was sitting on the runway at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, the review heard. His parachute would have saved his life but another fault meant the main chute failed to open.The 35-year-old was airlifted to hospital following the incident on 8 November 2011 but he was pronounced dead.Tom Kark QC, representing the pilot's family, told the hearing at Lincoln Cathedral Centre on Thursday that his clients wanted to know what had previously been done to address the fault with the Hawk T1 seat firing handle, the BBC reported."Obviously, on behalf of the family, they would like the widest exploration possible of why their son and brother died," Kark said.He added that the family also wanted to know what action had been taken to prevent other pilots being put "in a similar dangerous position".The fault with the parachute related to the shackle linking the seat and the drogue parachute – a smaller chute deployed before the main one. The drogue parachute opened but the main one failed to.The full inquest into t...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: The Guardian Military Aeronautics News Royal Air Force UK news Science Source Type: news