Hero pilot was former Southampton University student

Tributes have been flooding in for the former Southampton University student who is said to have steered the Hawk jet away from houses and people before crashing near Bournemouth Airport.

People heading to the Bournemouth Air Festival today, which will go ahead without the world famous aerobatic display team, which has been grounded pending the ongoing investigation, are bing asked to wear red in honour of Ft Lt Egging.

He had joined the team last year and was married to Emma and lived in Rutland.

Dr Emma Egging described her husband as "an exemplary pilot".

She had watched her husband perform at the air show just minutes before his death.

She said: "Jon was everything to those that knew him, and he was the best friend and husband I could ever have wished for.

"I know that he would have wanted me to say something from the heart at this time. There was nothing bad about Jon.

"He loved his job and was an exemplary pilot. Watching him today, I was the proudest I've ever been. I loved everything about him, and he will be missed."

His plane came down at Throop as the aerobatic display team headed back to Bournemouth Airport.

Shocked eyewitnesses have told the Daily Echo how they watched in horror as the Red Arrow jet crashed during the town's air festival.

It's thought the Hawk aircraft had been performing a final low-level split manouevre when it came down in a field near Throop village, not far from Castlepoint shopping centre, at 1.30pm.

The nose of the jet ended up in the River Stour and debris was scattered to the south of the river bank.

Flight Lieutenant Egging was pronounced dead at the scene.

John Dugdale did not hear the crash but was soon at the scene when a rescue helicopter starting hovering above.

"Somebody ran past me saying 'one of the reds has gone down'. I just thought this is not happening," Mr Dugdale said. "I ran over and there was a small group of people and you could see part of the wreckage of the aircraft on the riverbank.

"At least one of the group had entered the water and was looking in the river for the pilot. "One then shouted out he could see a parachute and then he shouted out he had got him (the pilot) and someone said, 'is he dead?' and the man in the water replied 'yes'.

"There was a lot of bushes on the bank and he was found just away from me in a bend of the river. I did not see him."

Mr Dugdale said he thought the ejection seat was found away from the body.

He went on: "Soon there were emergency services everywhere and the helicopter landed and we began to be cleared away.

"I went straight back home because it was extremely upsetting.

Eyewitness Shaun Spencer-Perkins said he made his way to the scene with members of his family.

He said: “The first think I looked for was a parachute coming down. It was such a clear day but I saw absolutely nothing.

He said: “There were lots of pieces of debris and a lot of aviation fuel. About 100 metres from the final resting place of the plane, in the river, there was the tail section to the plane, bits of the cockpit glass, a wheel, parts of the side of the plane, the undercarriage.

“There was a big hole in the ground which must have been three feet deep. Right across the grass, about 20ft wide, was what looked like burnt grass. It took out a lot of fencing. There was a definite debris field leading up to the embankment".

Radio enthusiast Malcolm MacIntyre, 37, from Wallisdown, had heard the Red Arrows’ radio conversations before the crash. “I picked up some communications from the Red Arrows letting the approach system know that they were 20 miles out,” he said.

“Another aircraft was hoping to land and managed to do so. “Then the Red Arrows called to land by the tower and about a minute later, about 1.50pm, whoever made the Red Arrows communication, I’m guessing the lead pilot, said: '“Are we clear to land?' “The answer came through, 'Yes'.

“The tower gave him the wind direction and then a few seconds later the Red Arrows pilot said ‘Are you aware of the Mayday?’ “The tower said “Yes, we are, somebody is dealing with that’.”

He heard a pilot saying he had spotted “wreckage next to the water”. He added: “I am completely shocked. I didn’t know what to do. It was pretty scary. It’s bad news for the Red Arrows and for Bournemouth.”

Wayne Kent, 30, the assistant manager of the Broadway Pub, said some of his customers had seen the incident. He said: "I heard that the plane went down in the fields near Throop and it bounced three or four times. "The pilot then steered it towards the river." Mr Kent said the pilot guided the plane away from houses in the village and from people walking near the riverbank.

Eyewitness Liz Howard added she had been watching the display from Bournemouth Airport and saw eight of the nine aircraft land before seeing a plume of smoke over a field near the airport. "It's terrible," she said.

Another eye-witness said she saw the aircraft suddenly descend and said it was lucky the jet hadn't come down near the Adventure Wonderland theme park close to the airport. "A lot of people are in absolute disbelief it happened", she said.

Ten fire appliances attended the scene and a police helicopter flew overhead.

The world famous Red Arrows were appearing on the second day of the Bournemouth Air Festival.

According to the Festival timetable, the Red Arrows Bournemouth display was to be followed with a flypast in Drimpton in West Dorset.

On Friday a crowd of 220,000 watched the Red Arrows Hawk display team steal the show at Bournemouth when they showed off dozens of formation moves during a stunning aerobatic display.

The air festival continued after the incident.

The Red Arrows display team has used the BAE Systems Hawk T1 aircraft, costing around £20million each, since 1979.

The Hawk’s Rolls Royce Adour engine produces 5,2000lbs of thrust and can power the aircraft to a top speed of Mach 1.2.

The plane has a maximum altitude of 48,000ft and fuel capacity gives a maximum range of 1,000nm, making most parts of the world accessible. The Hawk is slightly modified for use by the Red Arrows, being fitted with smoke generators and an uprated engine to give a faster response.

The smoke generation system pumps diesel mixed with appropriately coloured dye into the jet exhaust to produce the colourful vapour trails that the Red Arrows are famous for.

Each aircraft can carry enough diesel and dye to create five minutes of white smoke, one minute of red and one minute of blue during the display.

Despite performing more than 4,000 displays across the globe, the Red Arrows team has an impeccable safety record.

Since using the Hawk T1 jet, there have been no fatalities despite nine accidents involving the Red Arrows:

In 1980 a Hawk hit a yacht mast at an air show in Sussex, the pilot ejected safely.

In 1986 a Hawk rammed into the back of another on a runway, no one was seriously hurt.

In 1987 a Hawk crashed into a house in the village of Welton, Lincolnshire while practising, nobody was killed and both pilots ejected safely.

On 24 June 1988 a Hawk crashed whilst attempting to take off, and the fuel tanks exploded but the pilot ejected safely, -On 9 September 2003 a Hawk overshot the runway during landing at Jersey Airport. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jez Griggs, ran the jet into a gravel pile and little damage was caused.

In 2007 the wingtip of a Hawk hit the tail of another during practice flight near RAF Scampton. No one was hurt.

On 23 March 2010 two Hawks were involved in a mid air collision. Both pilots managed to eject safely.

Pilots must have completed one or more operational tours on a fast jet such as the Tornado, Harrier or Jaguar, have accumulated at least 1,500 flying hours before they are eligible. More details to follow.

Were you at the Bournemouth Air Festival? Did you witness the crash? Contact the Daily Echo on 023 8042 4522, or by email at newsdesk@dailyecho.co.uk