Police have now passed their full file on the Shoreham air crash to the Crown Prosecution Service.
West Sussex Senior Coroner Penelope Schofield has written to the families of the 11 men killed in the air crash in August 2015 to share the update.
In a statement this morning, Ms Schofield said: “The full file is now with the CPS and Sussex Police await a CPS decision as to whether or not any criminal charges are to be brought.
“A further update will be provided at the next Pre Inquest Review hearing scheduled for 24 January 2018.
“I will of course keep the matter under continuous review.”
The Coroner has indicated that the full inquest is still set to be heard in September 2018.
A third pre inquest review will take place on Wednesday 24 January at Crawley Coroner’s Court.
Ms Schofield said the inquest may have to be suspended if the CPS decides to bring criminal charges.
The 11 who died in the air crash were Maurice Rex Abrahams, 76 of Brighton; Dylan Archer, 42 of Brighton; Anthony David Brightwell, 53 of Hove; Matthew Grimstone, 23 of Brighton; Matthew Wesley Jones, 24 of Littlehampton; James Graham Mallinson, 72 of Newick; Daniele Gaetano Polito, 23 of Goring by Sea; Mark Alexander Reeves, 53 of Seaford; Jacob Henry Schilt, 23 of Brighton; Richard Jonathan Smith, 26 of Hove; Mark James Trussler, 54 of Worthing.
They were killed when a Hawker Hunter jet crashed during a display at the Shoreham Airshow on Saturday, 22 August 2015.
res ipsa loquitur, being civil.
Andy Hill may (or may not) have acted irresponsibly, but I can’t imagine him having crashed his plane deliberately, so why the talk of “criminal charges”?
Whatever he may or may not have done wrong, this was clearly an ACCIDENT. Perhaps he made a bad judgement (or perhaps not), or perhaps he lost power, as at least one on-line video appears to show, but whatever it was that went wrong that day, we can be certain that there was no criminal intent on the part of the pilot.
It was a terrible tragedy, but Mr Hill also suffered serious injuries and is lucky to be alive. It may (or may not) have been his fault, but I doubt whether he’ll ever fly again, so I’d say leave him alone. He’ll never be free of the guilt of having caused so many deaths, so what is there to be gained by punishing him again?
I can understand people wanting to avenge their loved ones, but that’s like wanting to punish the bus driver who knocked a pedestrian down earlier today. It was an accident, and unfortunately accidents do happen.