Comes In The Wake Of New U.K. CAA Rules For Aerial Displays By Warbirds

The Dutch Hawker Hunter Foundation (DHHF) will not be flying its aircraft in airshows this season.

The foundation said in a news release that its aircraft, stationed at Leeuwarden Air Base, will not participate in airshows or other events.

The foundation said the move is a direct result of the decision by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority to ground all Hawker Hunters under its jurisdiction following the accident which occurred at the Shoreham Airshow last summer. The DHHF aircraft are all of British registry, the foundation said, and therefore fall under that prohibition.

The investigation into the crash is being carried out by the AAIB, and its final report is expected later this year.

The DHHF said that it hopes that its aircraft will again be allowed to fly after that report is released, but they will have to be sure the aircraft are airworthy after they are given the green light to fly, and so the enter 2016 airshow season will be lost.

"The aim is that beginning in the spring of 2017 both our Hunters will be seen regularly in Dutch airspace," the foundation said.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.dutchhawkerhunter.nl