Eleven people now have been confirmed dead after a 1950s Hawker Hunter jet hit cars as it crashed onto the A27 at Shoreham in West Sussex, wiping out drivers, two cyclists and a motorcycle rider.
The pilot survived and was flown to the Royal Sussex Hospital where he is in a critical condition.
The police searched on Sunday for more victims bringing the total from 7 to eleven while 14 people were treated for minor injuries.
The vintage Hawker Hunter fighter jet was attempting a loop manoeuvre from which it failed to pull out. The pilot had no time to eject before the plane slammed into the ground hitting cars on the A27 including a wedding hire Daimler on the way to pick up a bride and groom.
The Hawker Hunter was listed in the air show programme as being flown by former RAF Harrier pilot Andy “Hilz”’ Hill, who works as an Airbus pilot for a major airline. Hill is described as a very experienced formation instructor and display pilot with a background as an RAF instructor with 12,000 flying hours to his credit.
Thousands of spectators were unable to leave the airport because the A27 was closed. Drivers on the road at the time of the accident tweeted pictures of the scene.
An Air Accidents Investigation Branch spokesman said it would be deploying a team to investigate and police spent Sunday lifting wreckage from the area while searching for bodies, some of which may only be identified by DNA analysis.
Photograph: Twitter
Fire at the scene of the crash. Photograph: Nicholas Hair/Demotix/Corbis
