Anger at claims Shoreham pilot wants licence back

The families of victims of an air show disaster say they will seek to stop the pilot responsible from getting his flying licence back.

Eleven men died in 2015 when a vintage aircraft being piloted by Andrew Hill at the Shoreham Airshow crashed into the A27.

A Discovery Plus documentary has claimed the pilot is trying to have his licence, currently suspended, reinstated.

The BBC has contacted lawyers for Mr Hill, who in 2019 was found not guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of the 11 victims.

Caroline Schilt's son Jacob and Anthony Mallinson's father Graham were killed in the crash.

Ms Schilt said: "Every day we think 'what might he be doing now?' But we've not got Jacob. We haven't got his future.

"It's very painful because I feel it's so selfish of him. He's never really accepted responsibility for killing those 11 men.

"To think that he's just going after something for himself, for his own pleasure, for his own enjoyment, and we're still left suffering."

Mr Mallinson said: "He doesn't deserve to fly again in public airspace.

"As a collaborative group of families we've been looking at prevention of future deaths.

"We never want to see anything like this happen to any other family."

In 2022 a coroner ruled the victims of the crash were unlawfully killed.

A legal attempt by Mr Hill to challenge that verdict was dropped in 2023.

East Worthing and Shoreham's Conservative MP Tim Loughton said Mr Hill should "read the room".

He said: "I will certainly raise it with transport ministers and the Civil Aviation Authority if that turns out to be the case."

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