Shoreham plane crash: Pilot Andy Hill being investigated by police over separate incident at another airshow

Sussex Police say they are looking into an incident at the Southport airshow a year before the crash which killed 11 people in August

A fighter jet crashes in west Sussex (XPOSUREPHOTOS.COM)

The pilot involved in last year's Shoreham air disaster is being investigated over a separate incident which occured 12 months earlier, according to reports.

Andy Hill lost control of the Hawker Hunter jet at an airshow in Shoreham in August killing 11 people.

He was thrown free from the plane and survived.

Sussex Police have said they are investigating an incident at the Southport airshow in 2014 where the 51-year-old was reportedly flying too close to the ground and the crowd.

David Walton, who was the Flight Display Director responsible for the safety at the Southport event, told ITV News a stop call was immediately issued and the display was terminated.

He said: "A 'stop' call was immediately issued by the Flying Display Director (FDD) on the display radio frequency and the flying display was terminated.

"The Flying Control Committee (FCC) had also witnessed the event and agreed with the course of action.

"The pilot was debriefed, initially on the telephone and later in person, and agreed to amend his display for the Sunday display."

Heather Minshull, who was at the Southport show, said she remembered the jet being very loud and “[coming] down in a dive which... seemed to loop and face the wrong way”.

A huge fireball erupted after the jet crashed into the dual carriageway (EPA)

She said: "I remember looking at it and thinking I'm sure that plane nearly hit. I'm sure that that plane nearly crashed.

"I do recall straightaway that the plane flew high and went, so it felt very much like a cancelled manoeuvre as if something had gone wrong, and gone wrong very quickly, and therefore the plane had been pulled out of the display.

"I do recall thinking that plane would have come down on the beach. It would have come down right in front of me. There was definitely a crowd there."

The Civil Aviation Authority - which had an inspector at the event - said it had spoken to Mr Hill about the incident.

Sussex Police said they had interviewed Mr Hill about the earlier incident in December.

They had been criticised by the victims' families for failing to interview the pilot in the weeks following the accident.

Andrew Hill, the pilot involved in the Shoreham air crash (PA)

Mr Hill was photographed in public following his release from hospital but had not been interviewed at the time.

The Air Accident Investigation Bureau published an interim report into the Shoreham crash in September which said the former British Airways pilot performed a left turn at 200ft above sea level - despite only having a licence to fly above 500ft.

A full inquest is expected to take place in June.