Horror at Avalon Airshow as aerobatic aircraft crashes during display

This afternoon, at around 5:15 PM a light aerobatic plane that was displaying in the Australian International Airshow crashed into the ground.

The aircraft just moments after hitting the ground | Photo by: Felix Ewens

The aircraft was in a dive and failed to pull up in time and hit the ground. The aircraft appeared to flip over before coming to a stop upright. Emergency crews rushed to the aircraft and helped the pilot out of the aircraft. At this stage, the pilot is in a critical but stable condition. He was transported to hospital for treatment.

The aircraft involved was VH-PVX, Pitts S-1-11B Super. The aerobatic aircraft was apart of Paul Bennet Airshows’ ‘Sky Aces’ formation team.

The incident occurred away from all crowds and no members of the public were injured.

The remaining Friday airshow was concluded shortly after the incident to allow the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to carry out an investigation with full, uninterrupted access.

The airshow has said they are still preparing for the airshow to resume tomorrow (Saturday) morning.

It was a truly awful sight to witness and our thoughts are with the pilot, his family, friends and team members.

The aircraft after crashing into the ground | Photo by: Felix Ewens

In videos from the incident, the crowd can be heard gasping as the plane made contact with the ground before becoming silent.

The ATSB said a team of investigators will travel to Avalon, south-west of Melbourne, to begin looking into the incident.

The ATSB asks anyone with video footage of the aircraft at any phase of the flight, or in the immediate aftermath of the accident, to make contact via the witness form on our website at their earliest opportunity.