1952: De Havilland 110 had just broken sound barrier when it broke apart over spectators showering them with debris

Sometimes things, purely odd, happen. However the disaster on September 6, 1952, prompted the introduction of stringent safety measures to protect spectators at air shows and no member of the public has been killed at a British air show since.

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At the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire on 6 September 1952, thousands of spectators watched as a De Havilland 110 aircraft broke the sound barrier and then disintegrated in the sky above them and fell to earth. The De Havilland 110 fighter had just broken the sound barrier when it broke up over the spectators, showering them with debris. Among the dead are the pilot, John Derry, and the flight test observer Anthony Richards. The two airmen had completed one fly-past in which they amazed 130, 000 spectators by breaking the sound barrier to produce a sonic boom.

"I was a 14-year-old boy in the crowd that watched the DH110 break up. I was some 50 yards from the perimeter fence by the runway and below the hill where the engine came down. I am certain that that day will remain in my memory until I die - the contrast of the excitement of seeing this futuristic aircraft streak overhead and then to watch it coming towards us and to see bits start to fly off and know that something was wrong. Then the engines came out and one whistled over our heads while the cockpit crashed just short of the fence in front of us. I wonder now if it was that British stoicsm which had been heightened during the war that allowed the show to continue about an hour later despite the carnage on the ground. My mother was almost hysterical on the drive home - the only time I saw her composure breakdown."
- Graham Scott, USA

"I still have vivid memories of being in the crowd on one of the twin hills. We could see the engines coming towards us and we were looking down the fuselage. At the last minute one lifted over our heads and the other crashed into the crowds on our right. Those killed did not stand a chance as there was nowhere to run. The coach returning to Coventry with the Armstrong Siddeley apprentices had nine empty seats and the sister of a close friend was among those killed. I have never flown since nor attended any air show."
- Sheila Williams, UK

The disaster prompted the introduction of stringent safety measures to protect spectators at air shows and no member of the public has been killed since at a British air show. Aerobatics displays are kept within a well-defined "box", to ensure an aircraft flying towards the crowd would still fall well short of the public in case of engine failure. Jets must stay at least 754 feet (230 meters) from the crowd if flying straight and 1,476 feet (450m) when doing maneuvers and at least 492 feet (150m) above the ground.

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Photos courtesy of steeljawscribe.com, wikipedia, and BBC

Original Source: BBC