The Shoreham air accident shocked the UK. There was a lot of guessing and conjecture. The pilots prosecution for manslaughter followed and, in this Insurance Institute of London (IIL) aviation lecture, John Jeffery, as defence expert, will walk attendees through method and process that enabled the court to gain a more detailed and clearer understanding of what could have happened that gave rise to the crash as well as other scenarios that were less likely to have happened.

The Shoreham air disaster in 2015 resulted in the death of 11 members of the public. It raised a lot of adverse headlines as well as significant public outrage. The press coverage was very much biased and, at times, vitriolic towards the pilot who survived the crash. He was prosecuted for manslaughter, going to trial in 2019, and John Jeffery was instructed as defence expert.

This lecture presents the methods and approaches used to build defence evidence in this case, the difficulties faced and the conclusions reached. It will discuss the relative strength of argument and evidence presented by both sides and shows how, if the scientific basis for your conclusions is not correct, this can impact on the technical credibility of your evidence. The lecture will also demonstrate how, when using a consistent approach and methodology, a much clearer understanding can be reached and when combined with other expert testimony,how this presents a powerful set of conclusions.