UK: Red Arrows back in the sky after crash tragedy
UK: The Red Arrows are expected to give their first public aerobatics display since the death of one of their pilots today.
Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, 33, from Rutland, died when his aircraft came down near Bournemouth Airport in Dorset on August 20 after performing at an air show.
His team-mates have been practising eight-plane formations and plan to put on a 20-minute display without him for the first time at Chatsworth Country Fair in Derbyshire at 4.15pm.
The Red Arrows were originally scheduled to fly at Chatsworth on Sunday as well, but the second performance has been cancelled.
The Duke of Devonshire, whose estate hosts the fair, said: “We are delighted that the Red Arrows have decided to take flight again at Chatsworth but of course it will be a day of mixed emotions.
“There will be thousands of people enjoying the show but it will be tinged with sadness as people remember Flight Lieutenant Egging.
“I think it will give everybody a greater appreciation of the expertise needed for a display like this and of the enormous risks taken on our behalf by the armed forces.”
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The RAF temporarily grounded all 126 of its Hawk T1 training jets while preliminary investigations were carried out into what caused the crash that killed Flt Lt Egging.
But the Red Arrows, renowned for their precision routines where nine aircraft fly in a perfect diamond, were given the all-clear to return to the skies last Thursday and have since been practising as a team of eight.
