RAF Confirms Red Arrows Hawk has crashed at RAF Valley
Emergency services are attending an incident at RAF Valley on Anglesey involving a Hawk aircraft.
The aircraft, believed to be one of the Red Arrows, crashed on the airfield but the two persons on board. Group Captain Nick Tucker-Lowe confirmed that a Red Arrows Engineer has died in the accident. The pilot, who ejected, is still receiving medical treatment.
Eyewitness Sian Williams said: “I was sitting at Rhosneigr train station waiting for the train and you can see the airfield from there.
“I was watching the Red Arrows flying because you hardly ever see them, and then it looked like it was about to land.
“The next thing I saw was the parachute, and then the plane hit the runway and went up in flames.”
North Wales police have confirmed they are attending the scene and the Ministry of Defence has confirmed an incident involving a Hawk at RAF Valley.
A Wales Air Ambulance Charity helicopter also attended the scene from its nearby base at Caernarfon.
The Red Arrows have been training at RAF Valley but were believed to be heading for their home base at RAF Scampton when the incident occurred.
A spokesperson for the RAF said: “We are aware of an incident today at RAF Valley involving a Hawk aircraft. We are investigating the incident and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
RAF Valley is home to the Royal Air Force’s No4 Flying Training school (4 FTS) and the Defence Helicopter School. Pilots on 4 FTS train to fly fast jets using 4 Squadron BAe Systems Hawk T2 aircraft before moving onto frontline Typhoon and Tornado Squadrons. The Red Arrows famous red jets are the older BAe System Hawk T1A model.
