Red Arrows Pilot Killed in Ejection Tragedy

Bethany Whitfield

Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 10:33 PM ET

Verified

** Red Arrows pilot Sean Cunningham was
killed after being ejected from one of the
team's Hawk T1 aircraft.**

Key Takeaways:

The British Royal Air Force has suspended all non-essential flights for aircraft equipped with the Martin Baker Mark 10B ejection seat.
This decision follows the recent death of Flight Lt. Sean Cunningham, who was fatally ejected from a parked Hawk T1 jet.
An investigation is underway to determine why the ejection seat fired, affecting Hawk T1, Tornado, and Tucano aircraft with the specified seat.
Cunningham's death is the second fatality for the Red Arrows team in recent months, following Flight Lt. John Egging's death in August.

See a mistake? Contact us.

The British Royal Air Force has halted all non-essential flights of aircraft equipped with the same type of ejection seat as the one involved in the recent death of Flight Lt. Sean Cunningham.

The 35-year-old Iraq War Veteran died after being ejected from a Hawk T1, which was reportedly parked at the Red Arrows’ base in central England at the time of the accident.