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Historic de Havilland DH.88 Comet to be restored after air show crash

An historic de Havilland DH.88 Comet aircraft that crashed during an air display is planned for restoration and return to flight. The pilot was discharged from hospital the day after the incident.

  • The de Havilland DH.88 Comet crashed during a 'flying proms' air show at Shuttleworth, Bedfordshire, on Saturday.
  • The Shuttleworth Trust intends to rebuild the aircraft to airworthy condition.
  • The pilot was taken to hospital and discharged the following day.

An historic de Havilland DH.88 Comet aircraft, which crashed during an air display, is set to be restored and flown again. The incident occurred on Saturday at a "flying proms" air show at Shuttleworth, Bedfordshire, as the pilot attempted to land.

The pilot was taken to hospital following the crash and was discharged the next day. The Shuttleworth Trust has stated its intention to "rebuild the aircraft to airworthy condition."

The de Havilland DH.88 Comet was originally designed for a 1934 race from Mildenhall to Melbourne, which it won. It was later given to the Shuttleworth Collection in 1965 for restoration and completed its first flight in 49 years in May 1987.

Spectator Rick Noel described the aircraft making several landing attempts, bouncing off the ground each time. He said that on the final attempt, the plane travelled along the grass runway before its rear skid began "digging up clods of earth," causing it to flip over and land upside down.

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