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Steve Parsons/PA Wire
UK News

Shoreham Airshow disaster report will not provide closure, says vicar

by Aaron James

Rev Terry Stratford, associate priest of St Mary de Haura Church in Shoreham, was speaking as the report was released on Thursday.

It comes after eleven people were killed when a Hawker Hunter jet failed to pull out of a loop-the-loop stunt over West Sussex on August 22 2015, before crashing in a fireball on the A27, hitting vehicles and pedestrians.

St Mary De Haura Church has been holding services to remember the victims who died in the disaster since it happened.

The 18-month probe by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) set out to determine the cause of the crash and make safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents, but said it would not "apportion blame or liability" - something some of the victims' loved ones believe is necessary in order to fully move on from the incident.

Andrew Hill, 52, from Sandon in Hertfordshire, piloted the 1955 Hawker Hunter. He survived the disaster and is being investigated for possible manslaughter by Sussex Police.

Steve Parsons/PA Wire
Steve Parsons/PA Wire
Giant crane is used to remove debris on the A27 at Shoreham
PA
PA
PA

Rev Terry said: "The families and the community are asking the age-old question of why and how did it happen.

"Everybody - the families and the community - just want to know what happened. Once we know, adjustments can be made to life and people can move forward. But at the moment, it's the great unknown.

"This report will be a further stage reached for the families, but not the culmination."

A lawyer representing the victims' families has said a coroner's investigation and inquest, as well as possible criminal investigations by the police, will provide further answers on top of today's AAIB report.

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