SHOREHAM Airshow pilot Andy Hill was involved in a previous incident now being looked at as part of the disaster investigation, it has been claimed.
Detectives probing the Shoreham Airshow disaster are looking into an incident at the Southport Airshow in 2014 as they delve into the disaster last August that killed eleven men when a Hawker Hunter display jet flown by Hill crashed into the A27.
The Southport incident is understood to have involved a Jet Provost reportedly flown by Hill over crowds while doing a loop manoeuvre, although that has not been officially confirmed by the authorities.
Last night ITV News was reporting that Mr Hill was flying the Jet Provost, quoting David Walton, flight director of the airshow in Southport in 2014.
He said the jet Andy Hill was flying was deemed too low and too close to the crowd, adding that a "stop call" was immediately issued and the display was terminated.
He told ITV News: "During the display by a Jet Provost T5 at the Southport Airshow on 20 September 2014, the aircraft was observed to be inside the lateral separation minima for the event and also below the minimum height stipulated in the Article 162 Permission issued by the CAA.
"A 'stop' call was immediately issued by the Flying Display Director (FDD) on the display radio frequency and the flying display was terminated.
"The Flying Control Committee (FCC) had also witnessed the event and agreed with the course of action.
"The pilot was debriefed, initially on the telephone and later in person, and agreed to amend his display for the Sunday display."
Spectators at the show commenting online after the event described it as worrying.
One said: "I have to say the JP 'incident' was a heart in the mouth moment.
"It was coming straight towards me at a very low level and for a split second I was quite worried, thankfully he had enough power to pull out although he did transgress the crowd line in the process.
"It may have been the pilot's decision to abort the display but he may also have been 'red carded'."
The Civil Aviation Authority said it had taken "appropriate action in conjunction with the show's organisers" following the Southport incident, adding it would not be appropriate to comment further.
The initial Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) bulletin into the doomed Hawker Hunter flight in Shoreham found the fatal loop-the-loop was performed hundreds of feet lower than the pilot’s licence allowed before it crashed into the A27.
Hill has been recovering after surviving the crash and was interviewed under caution after voluntarily meeting police. He was not arrested.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Rymarz, leading the investigation for Sussex Police, said yesterday: "We are aware of an incident at the Southport airshow in 2014. This incident forms a line of enquiry in our wider investigation.
"All the families are aware of our interest in this incident."
Eleven men were killed in the county’s biggest single peacetime loss of life on August 22 last year.
The Hawker Hunter jet flown by pilot Andy Hill crashed on to the A27.
The tragedy killed Maurice Abrahams, 76, from Woodingdean; cycling friends Dylan Archer, 42, from Brighton, and Richard Smith, 26, from Hove; NHS manager Tony Brightwell, 53, from Hove; Worthing United footballers Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt, both 23, from Brighton; personal trainer Matt Jones, 24, from Littlehampton; Daniele Polito, 23, from Worthing; grandfather Mark Reeves, 53, from Seaford; builder Mark Trussler, 54, from Worthing; and retired engineer James Graham Mallinson, 72, from Newick.
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