Death crash pilot was 'stand-in'

Brian Brown was an experienced display pilot flying Hurricanes

An experienced aviator who died when his aircraft crashed during an air show had volunteered his services because of a shortage of pilots.

Brian Brown, 49, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was killed during a mock dogfight at Shoreham Air Show, West Sussex.

No-one else was hurt or injured during the accident which took place north of the A27 on Saturday afternoon.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is carrying out an inquiry.

Mr Brown was flying a wartime Hurricane plane as part of a World War II re-enactment.

Witnesses said it went into a steep dive and crashed into a field to the north of the air show.

It's like having an injection of some drug - once you get up there you want more and more and more Brian Brown

Colleagues at the Real Aeroplane Company in Breighton, North Yorkshire, where Mr Brown was airfield manager, paid tribute to him.

Tony Smith, chief pilot at the company, said Mr Brown was not originally due to fly at the air show on Saturday.

He said: "Because the owners of the Hurricane were short of pilots that particular weekend, they'd asked him if he'd go down and fly the aeroplane. He was going down purely as a volunteer.

"He was probably the most experienced Hurricane pilot in the country. He was always highly regarded as a good hands-on pilot, very safe, very experienced, a proper aviator."

'Turned steeply'

Interviewed for the BBC's Inside Out programme in October 2005, Mr Brown described his love of flying.

"It's like having an injection of some drug," he said.

"Once you get up there you just get the injection and you want more and more and more."

Around 20,000 people are believed to have attended Saturday's show.

Tim Deakin, who witnessed the crash, told BBC News 24: "Midway through the dogfight one of the planes... turned quite steeply, went into almost a straight dive and ploughed into a hill probably about a mile from the airfield."

Sussex Police have urged anyone with video or photographic footage of the crash to contact them.