Is this the moment that a Red Arrow was downed? Mystery 'explosion' under plane is caught on camera

By Andy Dolan for the Daily Mail
Updated: 07:13 EDT, 24 August 2011

Still flying in formation but just seconds from disaster, this is the doomed Red Arrows jet – captured with a mysterious flash of light beneath it. 

The image was taken by a plane spotter below around 30 seconds before Red 4 piloted by Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging plummeted into a riverbank.

Witnesses have described finding the 33-year-old’s body face-down in the River Stour on the outskirts of Bournemouth, where the Red Arrows had been performing a seafront display as part of the town’s annual Air Festival.

Mystery light: The Hawk jet, second from left, flown by pilot Jon Egging can be seen with a bright light around its tail seconds before it crashed

Investigation: The photograph has been handed to the Ministry of Defence team probing the fatal crash

He had apparently steered the stricken jet away from homes in the nearby village of Throop.

The photograph, taken on a £450 super zoom camera, shows a flash of light close to the exhaust at the rear of the Hawk T1’s undercarriage after the Royal Air Force’s world famous aerobatic team completed a successful seafront display in Bournemouth on Saturday.

Photographer Ryan Money, 25, told yesterday how he captured the image as the Red Arrows passed overhead just before peeling off to land at Bournemouth Airport, but only realised what he had recorded when he was looking through his pictures later.

The restoration bricklayer, from Poole, Dorset, added: ‘The planes were so loud as they passed that I didn’t hear a bang or any other unusual noise.

Proud: Flight Lieutenant Egging joined the Red Arrows display team last autumn

‘But I believe the picture may capture the moment it all starts to go wrong for Flt Lt Egging.

‘It looks like a small explosion under the rear of the aircraft.

‘Just moments after the picture was taken, the plane banked to the right as the jets began peeling off to land, but Red 4 went straight down before reaching the runway.’

Mr Money, who attended the air show with his parents, said the photograph was taken on a Panasonic Lumix FZ100 super zoom camera.

A former Red Arrows pilot yesterday described the photograph as ‘potentially significant’ and ‘a puzzle’, but told the Daily Mail the strange light may be ‘nothing more than a reflection’, but Mr Money said if that was the case, the reflection would be ‘visible on other areas of the plane.’

The ex-pilot, who declined to be identified, said: ‘It’s something investigators will be keen to examine. The light appears to be coming from the area at the rear, where the speed brake and exhaust are situated.

‘It could prove a very significant and interesting piece of evidence as part of the wider investigation.’

The former Red Arrows pilot said the plane’s position in the formation was consistent with ‘where one would expect Red 4 to be’.

Crash site: The aircraft came down away from houses on land near Bournemouth Airport

Pride of Britain: The display team show off their skills at another air display earlier this year

But a retired former wing commander, who also declined to be named, said the most likely explanation for the light was that it was a strobe light, fitted on all aircraft as an anti-collision device.

He added: ‘These lights can be easily triggered by mistake in the cockpit.’

A spokesman for the Red Arrows thanked the Daily Mail for coming forward with the picture, which is being passed to investigators working on the Ministry of Defence-led Service Inquiry into the crash.

The tragedy marked the first time a Red Arrows pilot had been killed at a display. Six other pilots died in two separate collisions at RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire, whilst practising manoeuvres in the 1970s.

An inquest into the death was opened on Monday and, heard Flt Lt Egging, who lived with wife Dr Emma Egging, an academic at the British museum in Morcott, Rutland, died of multiple injuries.

Dr Egging, 32, was watching her husband take part in a display for the first time when the tragedy occurred. In a heartfelt tribute issued hours after his death, she described Flt Lt Egging as an ‘exemplary pilot.' She added: ‘Watching him today, I was the proudest I’ve ever been. I loved everything about him’.

Last night an MoD spokesman refused to confirm or deny that the plane in question was Red 4.

He said: 'The photograph has been passed to the Service Inquiry Team, who will consider it together with all other information'.