Shoreham Air show crash

[Pembury]

My niece made it to the roundabout at Lancing sports centre and saw the smoke behind her.
She was one of the lucky ones on that road and fate didn't want to take her that day.

Until all the victims are named and the A27 is cleared and re-opened the process of moving on cannot start.
Moving on for the families of victims and also the many thousands who live nearby
who's lives have been dominated by this one story since Saturday.

A close friend of ours saw the jet crash in her rear view mirror, so was probably behind, or near your niece. She had dropped her eldest daughter off at the Lancing Leisure centre, and to waste some time decided to drive back along the a27 to Next at Holmbush to buy some clothes,
and with more time to waste drove back and thought of stopping near the traffic lights to watch the display.
Luckily her new baby in the back of the car started to kick up a fuss, so she decided to drive on to the leisure centre,
thats when the she saw the fire in her mirror. She texted when she got to the centre and spoke to my wife as we were watching
it from the beach huts at widewater, obviously she was very shaken. It makes me feel a bit sick everytime i think about, as it could easily of been my family on that road on saturday.. needless to say i gave the kids extra cuddles that day. I believe that our friend is continuing to help the Police with the enquiries.

RIP to the 11.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

A young lad I knew a little died in Findon this week on the road.I don't know if he was taking the re-route,if he lived that way anyway,
or if the increased traffic caused his death however it seems the air crash may have indirectly killed him also.

The Argus have tried to link that young man's death to the A27 closure, rather shamelessly I feel, in an attempt to get more mileage out of their disaster coverage.


I suspect the two are in no way connected, and that his sad passing is an entirely separate tragedy for his family and friends.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

The Argus have tried to link that young man's death to the A27 closure, rather shamelessly I feel, in an attempt to get more mileage out of their disaster coverage.


I suspect the two are in no way connected, and that his sad passing is an entirely separate tragedy for his family and friends.

My opinion of The Argus plummeted after the cover it ran on Monday. "The day it rained fire"? Really? How to misjudge the mood of a community – and this is coming from a LOCAL paper, not the likes of the Mail or others!

The next day wasn't much better – more opinion than fact – so I'm done with it (not that it will make much of a difference because I probably only purchased about four copies a year).

Maybe I'm overly sensitive about it, but I also struggled to find many positive comments about that cover on social media.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

My opinion of The Argus plummeted after the cover it ran on Monday. "The day it rained fire"? Really? How to misjudge the mood of a community – and this is coming from a LOCAL paper, not the likes of the Mail or others!

The next day wasn't much better – more opinion than fact – so I'm done with it (not that it will make much of a difference because I probably only purchased about four copies a year).

Maybe I'm overly sensitive about it, but I also struggled to find many positive comments about that cover on social media.

Not sure many of our newspapers have distinguished themselves lately, what with The Sun publishing a front page today that looks like something out of Call Of Duty (re Virginia shootings) , and the Mail showing in full detail the poor journalist's utterly terrified face in the split second before she was shot dead.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Not sure many of our newspapers have distinguished themselves lately, what with The Sun publishing a front page today that looks like something out of Call Of Duty (re Virginia shootings) , and the Mail showing in full detail the poor journalist's utterly terrified face in the split second before she was shot dead.

Yep, agree with that. Most surprising was the Times, which ran with similar pictures...

 

[marshy68]

Yep, agree with that. Most surprising was the Times, which ran with similar pictures...

Not that I agree with the papers printing these images, but I guess its the onslaught of social media that they face as direct competition, within seconds on twitter, youtube and facebook you can watch planes crashing, people being shot etc. So i presume the editors feel they have to be as sensationalist as possible to capture readership. All very sad and all very voyeuristic but unfortunately a sign of the times we live in. This will only get worse and worse. My daughter is only 8 months old and I think my biggest challenge will be the internet and social media as she grows up.

 

[British Bulldog]

As a born and bred Shorehamite of 37 years, this whole thing has left me in pieces. I wasn't there – en route to the Amex on a bus with the Junior Bobkins – and I didn't know any of those that have died, but it has really got to me.

The Toll Bridge is half a mile away from my current home, and the house I grew up in. I've lost count of the number of times I've been across it, and through those traffic lights. To see it across national and international media has been so surreal, and very saddening, given the circumstances.

My favourite view in the world is from the second car park up Mill Hill, looking down onto Shoreham-by-Sea, the airport and the surrounding areas. I ran up there yesterday morning, sat on the bench and just looked as the amazing support crew got on with their work – whether that be forensics, clearing the scene, or fixing the road. I then went back down and walked across the Toll Bridge to see the flowers (and some TV crews) and to take it all in. I'm not normally a fan of floral tributes, but (maybe because it is close to home, literally), I was amazed by all of the flowers, messages, cards, football shirts and mementos.

The whole place had been so different early on Saturday morning as I ran through the airport, and saw excited punters gagging to get through the gates into the airshow. Amazing weather as well – since Sunday all it seems to have done in Shoreham-by-Sea is rain, which kinda reflects the mood in the town, sadly.

The club's response has been nothing short of amazing, and it means a lot to me – as a fan and as a resident – to see things like Paul Barber going to visit grieving parents, for teams to head down to the Toll Bridge to pay their respects, and for them to seemingly do as much as they can to help the support teams and the local community.

The answers to why and how this happened can wait – the experts are working on it, and have said it may take months or even years. What matters now is that the families of the victims get the support they need and (to a much lesser extent) the community bounces back. They have already done this in so many ways, and have gone out of their way to provide food, clothes, their own services, and other bits of help wherever they can. I'm proud to be a part of such a community.

Apologies for the slightly self-indulgent ramble – It's the first time I've properly put into words my thoughts on it, and this place seemed the best place to do it.

GB

As a Lancing resident of nearly 50 years I can only echo your feelings from across the bridge. One community I would like to spare a thought for as well who I've seen no mention of so far are the residents of the static gypsy/traveller site on the A27 who are living right next to the site of the crash and must be pretty isolated up there at the moment.

 

[Steve.S]

Showing footage and pictures is nothing new. Reporters have been on the frontline of many wars, there are plenty of films and pictures of horrific scenes from concentration camps during world war 2. More recently how many of us set transfixed by the twin towers as they collapsed.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I'm heading up to the bridge shortly to lay my flowers. It's only a few hundred yards for me, but I've not been there yet. Difficult to say how I'm going to feel.

 

[symyjym]

Not sure many of our newspapers have distinguished themselves lately, what with The Sun publishing a front page today that looks like something out of Call Of Duty (re Virginia shootings) , and the Mail showing in full detail the poor journalist's utterly terrified face in the split second before she was shot dead.

Definately not for the printed paper in public view. Without studying the actual video I even suspect that the photo with the fireball exiting the gun may have been photoshopped in, or at the very least enhanced. If it has been faked to sensationalise the event, the papers should be sued, even if they got it from a third party.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Definately not for the printed paper in public view. Without studying the actual video I even suspect that the photo with the fireball exiting the gun may have been photoshopped in, or at the very least enhanced. If it has been faked to sensationalise the event, the papers should be sued, even if they got it from a third party.

No idea, but underneath the photo, The Sun printed something like "Watch the horrific video on our website".

A subscriber website of course. Nothing like trying to profit from somebody's personal tragedy, eh?

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

Not sure many of our newspapers have distinguished themselves lately, what with The Sun publishing a front page today that looks like something out of Call Of Duty (re Virginia shootings) , and the Mail showing in full detail the poor journalist's utterly terrified face in the split second before she was shot dead.

I couldn't believe the Mail had that as their front page today, if it was anyone I'd known I'd be devastated (and furious beyond words) to see her last moments, which were so full of fear, being used to flog a paper.

No idea, but underneath the photo, The Sun printed something like "Watch the horrific video on our website".

A subscriber website of course. Nothing like trying to profit from somebody's personal tragedy, eh?

For lack of a better phrase, it's torture porn, pure and simple.

 

[Maldini]

A close friend of ours saw the jet crash in her rear view mirror, so was probably behind, or near your niece. She had dropped her eldest daughter off at the Lancing Leisure centre, and to waste some time decided to drive back along the a27 to Next at Holmbush to buy some clothes,
and with more time to waste drove back and thought of stopping near the traffic lights to watch the display.
Luckily her new baby in the back of the car started to kick up a fuss, so she decided to drive on to the leisure centre,
thats when the she saw the fire in her mirror. She texted when she got to the centre and spoke to my wife as we were watching
it from the beach huts at widewater, obviously she was very shaken. It makes me feel a bit sick everytime i think about, as it could easily of been my family on that road on saturday.. needless to say i gave the kids extra cuddles that day. I believe that our friend is continuing to help the Police with the enquiries.

RIP to the 11.

I would have passed my niece and your friend had I known I could have parked my car at Hove station car park and then got the train to falmer for the game.
However I didn't know there would be spaces until I went past on the train and am thankful I didn't ring the station as I had thought of doing.
Instead I saw the smoke on the train around 10 minutes after the crash but thought nothing of it.Strange.

I think however fate means you make it or you don't and those who made it were never ever in any kind of danger.

We will all hear stories from people we know, or people they know about their own experiences that day.
This helps make this story even more personal to many people.That with the fact the location is on our door step
is why this isn't just another story for many like it is for the media.

The story that so far has stuck out for me is the front page of the Sun that detailed the woman who drove
through the flames and went to work at M&S. There were far more stories more deserving of the front page
and I thought that was wrong.I also thought the woman was wrong to agree to interviews in her home
taking some of the focus away from the real victims.

 

[Yoda]

A young lad I knew a little died in Findon this week on the road.I don't know if he was taking the re-route,if he lived that way anyway,
or if the increased traffic caused his death however it seems the air crash may have indirectly killed him also.

Unfortunately I know this same chap. He had been training with us for the past 2/3 years. Found out last night. Having also met his Dad during that time and how proud of him he was, I can't imagine how distraught he is.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

OMG ... not ashamed to admit I cried when reading the words of Jacob's girlfriend Megan - "You were the love of my life and I am sure we would have grown up to get married, had babies and live in Brighton. “I’m sure we would have 10 cats too that you would chase about. That will never happen now but I will always love you and you will always be a part of me. I will forever cherish all the memories that we shared.”

Poor, poor girl - I hope she gets over the pain. What a scar on a young life that was clearly full of promise and hope for the future.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

OMG ... not ashamed to admit I cried when reading the words of Jacob's girlfriend Megan - "You were the love of my life and I am sure we would have grown up to get married, had babies and live in Brighton. “I’m sure we would have 10 cats too that you would chase about. That will never happen now but I will always love you and you will always be a part of me. I will forever cherish all the memories that we shared.”

Poor, poor girl - I hope she gets over the pain. What a scar on a young life that was clearly full of promise and hope for the future.

Well said and so true.

Just horrible.........

 

[symyjym]

No idea, but underneath the photo, The Sun printed something like "Watch the horrific video on our website".

A subscriber website of course. Nothing like trying to profit from somebody's personal tragedy, eh?

Yep, endorsing a snuff movie crosses the line.

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

OMG ... not ashamed to admit I cried when reading the words of Jacob's girlfriend Megan - "You were the love of my life and I am sure we would have grown up to get married, had babies and live in Brighton. “I’m sure we would have 10 cats too that you would chase about. That will never happen now but I will always love you and you will always be a part of me. I will forever cherish all the memories that we shared.”

Poor, poor girl - I hope she gets over the pain. What a scar on a young life that was clearly full of promise and hope for the future.

Christ that's horrendous. Not the phrasing or the choice of words but to see the future that someone had clearly thought/planned out laid bare knowing that it can't happen...horrible.

 

[symyjym]

OMG ... not ashamed to admit I cried when reading the words of Jacob's girlfriend Megan - "You were the love of my life and I am sure we would have grown up to get married, had babies and live in Brighton. “I’m sure we would have 10 cats too that you would chase about. That will never happen now but I will always love you and you will always be a part of me. I will forever cherish all the memories that we shared.”

Poor, poor girl - I hope she gets over the pain. What a scar on a young life that was clearly full of promise and hope for the future.

When I saw the photo of them together it said it all really. They looked like they were a couple for life, and my thoughts are with her. So young and so much to take on board.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

OMG ... not ashamed to admit I cried when reading the words of Jacob's girlfriend Megan - "You were the love of my life and I am sure we would have grown up to get married, had babies and live in Brighton. “I’m sure we would have 10 cats too that you would chase about. That will never happen now but I will always love you and you will always be a part of me. I will forever cherish all the memories that we shared.”

Poor, poor girl - I hope she gets over the pain. What a scar on a young life that was clearly full of promise and hope for the future.

I read those words as well, very moving.