Parents of Shoreham air crash victim say they will 'try to stop' pilot having license reinstated

  • ITV News Meridian's Andy Dickenson report includes pictures from Fatal Flight: Shoreham

The parents of a man who died in the Shoreham Airshow disaster say they will do everything they can to try to stop the pilot from getting his flying license back.

Eleven men died on 22 August 2015 when a vintage aircraft, being piloted by Andrew Hill for the air display, crashed into the A27.

23-year-old Jacob Schilt was one of the victims. He was in the car on the way to play a football match for Worthing United when the Hawker Hunter jet crashed.

His parents, Bob and Caroline Schilt spoke to ITV News Meridian ahead of a documentary airing tonight (28 December) on Discovery Plus which claims that the pilot is trying to have his licence reinstated.

A trial found Andrew Hill not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter, however, an inquest later determined that the victims were unlawfully killed.

Caroline Schilt said: “We can't believe that he would want to get his license back.

"But it seems as though that is exactly what he's been trying to do. We'll do everything we can to try to stop him getting that license back if we have any power over it at all."

Bob Schilt added: "As bleak as it was immediately afterwards. Nothing's changed. It's just, we've got older, that's all.

"You can't mend. There's no mending. You go around with a great big hole in you. We get cracking on with things and we laugh, you know, and whatnot. But it's not the same."

  • Caroline Schilt spoke to ITV News Meridian about her late son

"It’s a relief to be able to talk about it. It’s therapeutic to be able to talk about it," Caroline Schilt continued.

"Jacob was full of life. His main interest was football, he was obsessed with football.

"He loved his friends too and he loved his girlfriend. He was looking forward to a career - he had it all ahead of him.

"He was just a lovely, lovely boy. They were real people with long lives ahead of them."

In September 2015 a memorial has been raised by the bridge where many people went to mourn. Credit: ITV News Meridian

Andrew Hill told the documentary's makers he could not respond to the content of the film for legal reasons. We too approached him for comment.

He maintains that he was cognitively impaired in the moments before the crash, and he apologized to the victim's families in the moments after his trial.

Yet eight years on, the impacts of this disaster are still being keenly felt. The Shoreham Airshow is so synonymous with the tragedy that the is show unlikely ever to return.

In a statement, the Civil Aviation Authority said: “Mr Hill’s UK licence is suspended and he remains unable to fly in the UK.

“We cannot comment publicly on whether or not an individual has applied for a UK licence."

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