Red Arrows Crash Pilot Out Of Hospital

The pilot of the Red Arrows Hawk jet which crashed at RAF Valley killing an engineer has been discharged from hospital.

Flt Lt David Stark suffered non-life threatening injuries after ejecting from the aircraft, however, Cpl Jonathan Bayliss did not eject and died in the crash. 

Police and crime scene investigators supported by other specialists are currently conducting a joint and full investigation led by the Defence Accident Investigation Branch to establish what caused the crash.

The RAF Red Arrow Hawk has begun a routine flight from RAF Valley to RAF Scampton following simulator/ground training when it crashed.

Flt Lt Stark joined the Red Arrows as Red 3 last year and was currently training for the next display season, which starts in June.

At the end of last year, Forces News interviewed the new team as they started preparing for the RAF's 100th anniversary.

At the time he said:

"Certainly this morning knowing we were finally going to fly on the wing of Red 1 I had to pinch myself."

Following the crash, the Red Arrows Hawk jets were ground, with the RAF saying that flying would "resume as soon as possible", but only when they "are confident that it is safe to do so."

However, some Red Arrows aircraft are now expected to fly today to return to their home at RAF Scampton.

The Red Arrows

The Red Arrows are the Royal Air Force's aerobatics display team based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

The team is made up of nine pilots and around 91 support crew. 

When travelling to different RAF Stations or airports, engineers are known as ‘The Blues’ because of their distinctive royal blue flying suits commonly ride shotgun in a Red Arrows' Hawk.

RAF Valley

RAF Valley is located on the island of Anglesey in Wales and is home to No 4 Flying Training School which provides fast-jet training.

The school use the Hawk T.Mk 2 for training purposes which should not be confused with the Hawk T.Mk 1 it replaced. The latter being the aircraft used by the Red Arrows display team.