A pilot blamed for the deaths of 11 people in the Shoreham Airshow disaster has refused to apologise ten years on.
Ex-RAF airman Andy Hill, 60, has spent the last decade trying to regain his pilot licence after the Civil Aviation Authority revoked it.
Despite a coroner attributing the fatal crash in August 2015 to his piloting, resulting in his jet erupting into flames on the A27 in West Sussex, Mr. Hill has chosen not to offer an apology.
A spokesperson for him told The Mirror: ‘Mr Hill does not want to make any public statement about the tragic events of Shoreham.’
The former British Airways captain was cleared of manslaughter by gross negligence following a trial at the Old Bailey in 2019.
But at an inquest in 2022, senior coroner Penelope Schofield said Mr Hill’s plane crashed as ‘a result of the manner in which it was flown’.
Anthony Mallinson, whose father James Graham Mallinson, 72, was killed in the disaster, called for the pilot to ‘acknowledge’ the grieving families.
He stated, “Hill hasn’t allowed anything to settle, so we’ve never truly had a period, such as three months, to mourn properly without interruption.”
‘I think I think in the ten years since, it’s been all about him. It would be very nice for him to acknowledge us properly.’
Ex-RAF airman Andy Hill, 60, (pictured in 2019) challenged the Civil Aviation Authority’s decision to revoke his pilot licences in the High Court
Eleven men were killed in August 2015 when Andrew Hill’s Hawker Hunter plane crashed while performing at the Shoreham Airshow in West Sussex
Remembered in the Shoreham Airshow tragedy were (top row left to right) Matthew Grimstone, Matt Jones, Mark Reeves, Tony Brightwell, and Mark Trussler, and (bottom row left to right) Dylan Archer, Richard Smith, Graham Mallinson, Maurice Abrahams, and Daniele Polito.
Earlier this year, Mr Hill’s final attempt to regain his pilot licence through a legal challenge was refused at the High Court.
He had lodged a Judicial Review just months after he lost an appeal following a two-day hearing in London in October last year.
The decision to challenge the ruling was heavily criticised by families who lost loved ones in the Shoreham Airshow disaster.
Caroline Schilt, 64, whose 23-year-old son Jacob was among the deceased, mentioned, “It’s unclear if he realizes that his persistent legal challenges inflict immense pain on the families by dragging out the process.”
“Regardless, it feels intensely personal. Hill has never acknowledged any responsibility for the deaths of 11 men due to his reckless flying,” she added.
‘He has never shown any remorse and we don’t believe he ever will.’
Jacob had been on his way to play an away football match when Hill’s 1950s aircraft smashed into the A27 while he performed in the Shoreham airshow.
He was sitting next to his Matt Grimstone, who was also killed, as they drove themselves to play for Worthing Utd.
Caroline, 64, and Bob Schilt, 70, are pictured holding up a picture of their son Jacob who died in the Shoreham airshow disaster
Emergency personnel are shown at the site of the incident, where a vintage aircraft tragically crashed onto the A27 in West Sussex in August 2015.
Picture shows the moment before the crash at the Shoreham Airshow in August 2015
Mr Hill’s lawyers previously argued the Civil Aviation Authority took the decision to stop him flying based on public reaction to the 2015 tragedy.
The former British Airways captain suffered serious injuries in the crash and nearly died at the side of the road.
The CAA previously said: ‘Following a public hearing on a challenge by Andrew Hill to a UK Civil Aviation Authority proposal to revoke his pilot and flight radio telephony licences, the Civil Aviation Authority’s decision panel has confirmed that proposal and Andrew Hill’s licences will now formally be revoked.
‘Following the crash at the Shoreham Airshow in 2015 in which 11 people died, Andrew Hill’s licences were suspended, and he has been unable to fly in the UK since then.
‘The thoughts of everyone at the UK Civil Aviation Authority remain with those affected by the tragic crash.’
