The pilot who crashed at the Shoreham Air Show leaving 11 men dead is taking his fight to fly again to the High Court.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) suspended Andy Hill’s pilot’s licence after he crashed on to the A27 in a Hawker Hunter when an aerobatic move went wrong on Saturday 22 August 2015.
Mr Hill, 60, applied to the CAA, the aviation regulator, to have his licence back but he was turned down last October.
The former Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot has now asked the High Court for a judicial review of the CAA decision.
The CAA said that it was considering its response to the claim lodged by Mr Hill and has 21 days to set out its case.
It also said today (Thursday 6 March): “The thoughts of everyone at the UK Civil Aviation Authority remain with those affected by the tragic crash.”
After the crash, Mr Hill, of Sandon Road, Sandon, Hertfordshire, was charged with 11 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence and one count of endangering an aircraft.
He was tried by a jury at the Central Criminal Court – better known as the Old Bailey – in London and was found not guilty in March 2019.
But coroner Penelope Schofield concluded at an inquest in December 2022 that Mr Hill’s flying of the vintage Hawker Hunter had led to the 11 men being unlawfully killed.
Last October, the CAA upheld the decision to revoke Mr Hill’s flying licence and said that he “still seeks to disassociate himself from any meaningful responsibility for the accident”.
It is understood that Mr Hill filed his request for a judicial review after the three-month deadline but the CAA is weighing up its response.
Caroline and Bob Schilt, whose son Jacob died in the crash, criticised Mr Hill, as did Tony Mallinson, the son of another victim, Graham Mallinson.
The BBC quoted the former Conservative MP Tim Loughton, who represented East Worthing and Shoreham at the time of the crash, saying that Mr Hill’s legal action was crass and insensitive and could reopen old wounds.
Mr Loughton said: “He needs to do the decent thing and give up his attempt to restart his flying career, given the circumstances in which it ended.”
The 11 men who died were
- Maurice Abrahams, 76, from Brighton
- Dylan Archer, 42, from Brighton
- Anthony Brightwell, 53, from Hove
- Matthew Grimstone, 23, from Brighton
- Matthew Jones, 24, from Littlehampton
- Graham Mallinson, 72, from Newick
- Daniele Polito, 23, from Goring
- Mark Reeves, 53, from Seaford
- Jacob Schilt, 23, from Brighton
- Richard Smith, 26, from Hove
- Mark Trussler, 54, from Worthing
