The manufacturers of an ejection seat which activated during a pre-flight check, throwing a Red Arrows pilot to his death, today admitted breach of health and safety regulations at a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court.
The charge followed an incident in November 2011 when Flt Lt Sean Cunningham, 35, was thrown 300 feet into the air after the ejection seat unexpectedly activated.
Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd had previously entered a not guilty plea to a charge that on or before November 8, 2011 it failed to conduct its undertaking in relation to the design, manufacture, supply and support of the Mark 10b ejection seat in a way that did not expose non-employees, including Flt Lt Cunningham, to risk.
The charge particularised the non-deployment of the main parachute attached to the ejection seat during low speed or zero-zero ejections as a risk.
A five week trial was due to commence this week. John Martin, a director acting on behalf of the company at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday, January 22, entered a guilty plea as members of Flt Lt Cunningham’s family sat in court.
After the hearing, they left court without commenting.
The prosecution, brought by the Health & Safety Executive arose out of investigations into the death of Flt Lt Cunningham. He was carrying out pre-flight checks on his Hawk jet at the Arrows’ base at RAF Scampton when the seat activated, throwing him into the air.
The parachute on the ejection seat did not deploy and he plummeted back down to earth still strapped into the seat. He suffered multiple injuries and was airlifted to hospital but was pronounced dead within an hour.
Rex Tedd QC, prosecuting, said there were still issues which need to be resolved and further discussions are to take place between prosecution and defence counsel to agree the basis of the guilty plea.
At the conclusion of today’s 20 minute hearing Mrs Justice Carr adjourned the case for sentencing which is to commence on February 12 and take up to three days.
She said: “In light of the plea the matter will now proceed to sentencing. No health and safety case is the same. This case is unique like any serious case of its type.”
Flt Lt Cunningham, who was from Coventry, had just completed his first season with the Arrows and held the position of Red 5 in the formation team at the time of his death.
An inquest in January 2014 was told that the ejection seat firing handle had been accidentally moved into an unsafe position and a crucial safety pin was incorrectly inserted.
In the four days before the pilot’s death 19 seperate checks failed to spot the problem which the Central Lincolnshire coroner Stuart Fisher said was “there to be seen.”
The inquest was told that when the ejection seat fired the parachute failed to deploy. The coroner ruled this was because a nut had been fastened too tight to a bolt.
Mr Fisher gave a narrative verdict at the end of a three week inquest. He highlighted an issue that warnings about problems with the ejection seat had not been passed down to either pilots or ground crew who worked with the Red Arrows.
Flt Lt Cunningham was the second member of the team to die tragically within three months following the loss of Flt Lt Jon Egging whose Hawk jet crashed during a display at an air show in Dorset.
In a statement released after the guilty plea Martin-Baker Aircraft Company said: “Firstly and most importantly we express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham.
“Today Martin-Baker Aircraft Company entered a guilty plea to a single breach of Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This plea was entered following detailed and lengthy discussions with the Health and Safety Executive which have considerably narrowed the issues from when its investigation first started.
“It should be noted that this was an isolated failure relating to the tightening of a nut during maintenance procedures conducted by RAF Aerobatic Team (RAFAT) mechanics.
“Martin-Baker Aircraft Company has designed and manufactured ejection seats for 73 years and in that time these ejection seats have been flown by 92 air forces, with over 17,000 seats currently in use.
“Our ejection seats have saved the lives of 1,050 British Royal Air Force and Navy aircrew, with a further 6,009 aircrew lives saved around the world.
“Martin-Baker’s priority has and will always be the safety of the aircrew who sit on the Company’s seats. We appreciate that the Health and Safety Executive, during this process, has acknowledged this dedication and track record of saving lives.”
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It follows a collision between a motorbike and Ford Kruga in March where, sadly, the motorcyclist – a 52-year-old woman – was killed.
Louth Wolds Councillor Hugo Marfleet told councilors there was a “very bad camber” in the road through the village which “basically flips vehicles one way then the other”.
He said there had been numerous accidents along the road, including a number of lorries which had overturned spilling their produce.
“The village itself is constantly under pressure with speeding vehicles,” he said.
However, he added that residents also wanted more action and speed limits on the road from Burwell to Muckton, which he said was “very narrow”.
“If anything happens on that road, all the traffic gets diverted through there and people come off that a bit fast”.
He asked for new signage to be installed to try to warn people of the dangers.
Committee Chairman Councillor Ian Fleetwood was familiar with the road.
“It is fairly fast and there are one or two little surprises there,” he said.
Councillor Tom Ashton said he endorsed the comments around the south of the village needing more needed doing.
“Going from 60-30mph with such a short stretch before that junction – I genuinely don’t like speed limits that drop by 30mph in one go.”
He called for the area to be looked at again “with considerable urgency”.
A report before councillors said the limit had been in place for “many years” and would have resulted from a speed survey.
A new test measured the mean speed at 35mph, within 3mph of the level required to justify a 30mph speed limit.
The Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership has also requested an assessment of the A16 to the north of Burwell to see if a reduction from the national speed limit may be used there.
Lincoln Odeon staff reportedly ‘refused entry’ to a group of young people that came to watch the new Minions film dressed in suits – following an emerging TikTok trend.
The trend has seen many teens and adolescents arrive for screenings of Minions: The Rise of Gru dressed in formal suit attire, uploading their experience to TikTok with #gentleminions.
Cinemas across the country have implemented bans for people coming to watch the film in suits, after accusations of audiences making noise and throwing bananas and other items while the movie is on.
The trend has generated millions of views in recent days, appearing to consist of standing ovations at the end, cheering during dramatic scenes and sitting in unison adopting the characteristic steepled fingers of the film’s main character – Felonious Gru.
Gareth Nichols contacted The Lincolnite to say that his 15-year-old son and a group of around 15-20 school friends were “refused entry” to Odeon on Brayford Wharf North in Lincoln on Saturday, July 2.
He said his son and friends turned up in suits, and described the decision to ban a group of teens “who have dressed up for an evening out at the cinema” as “ridiculous”.
“They had all pre-purchased tickets and were not there to cause trouble in any way. They were refused entry because of the way they were dressed; smartly.
“Clearly the good people of Lincoln need to be aware that they should not attend the Odeon cinema dressed smartly, because I assume the same policy will apply to all age groups – not just teenagers.”
Odeon staff did say that the boys would get their ticket prices refunded in 2-3 days, but the cinema has confirmed that access is restricted “in some circumstances”.
An Odeon spokesperson said: “Due to a small number of incidents in our cinemas over the weekend we have had to restrict access in some circumstances.”
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