Shoreham Airshow disaster: Families pay tribute to victims

The August 2015 tragedy claimed the lives of 11 men when a vintage jet crash landed in a devastating fireball on the A27 near the airport.

Lost opportunities and unfulfilled potential as well as raw grief dominated the three pen portraits at the hearing.

Footballers Jacob Schilt and his friend Matthew Grimstone were driving to Worthing Utd to play when they were killed.

Matt Grimstone, left, and Jacob Schilt

Matthew’s father Philip could hardly contain his emotions when he said his talented, funny, loving and handsome son lives on in the memories of his friends and loved ones.

He told the inquest at County Hall North in Horsham his 23-year-old son lost his life due to an aircraft being flown purely for entertainment.

“This is something we find hard to comprehend and difficult to bear”, he said.

“All his hopes, all his dreams, all the things he never got to do.”

Jacob Schilt

Caroline Schilt fought back tears as she told the inquest her son had been “completely defenceless” when he died.

Jacob, 23, was due to start a Master's degree at Brighton University in September 2015.

As screens around the courtroom showed a montage of pictures, Mrs Schilt described the family heartache at the thought of what he could have become.

The family would never recover, she said.

“Our lives are tormented by thinking what he could have been.

“No parent should have to suffer the loss of their child.

“Jacob was exactly in the right place in the right time, going about his business travelling to play his favourite game with his friend.

“What happened to them was unthinkable.

James Graham Mallinson, bottom right

“They were completely defenceless.”

James Graham Mallinson, 72, was described as a keen photographer who travelled to the event hoping to capture shots of the Vulcan bomber which was making one of its last appearances in the display.

The retired electrical engineer was doing what he loved.

In a family statement read to the court by their lawyer, they said: “He will always be remembered by those who knew him as the kindest, gentlest and most generous of men who always put others before himself and regularly gave up his time to help them.

“A true gentleman in every respect.”

The inquest heard horrific details of some of the injuries sustained by four of the victims.

Two of the men were blown apart by the fireball, the inquest heard.

The moment the Hawker Hunter crashed (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

Opening the full inquest this afternoon, Coroner Penelope Schofield said: “On a sunny summer day on August 22, 2015, at around 1.32pm, 11 men were killed and numerous other people suffered significant injuries when a former military Hawker Hunter aircraft laden with fuel doing an aerobatic display at the Shoreham Airshow crashed on to the A27 in the most horrific circumstances.

“I can only express my deepest regret that the ordeal of all the bereaved has been added to by the time it has taken for these inquests to be heard.

“You have all tolerated a far longer wait for these inquest hearings to commence then I would ever have wished for. I am so sorry you have waited so long.”

The family pen portraits will conclude on Friday.

The much-delayed inquest is expected to last at least two weeks.