Seven people have died after a Hawker Hunter jet crashed into several vehicles during Shoreham Airshow.
South East Coast Ambulance Service said the victims all died at the scene, with a further person being taken to hospital in critical condition.
The plane crashed on the nearby A27. Fourteen people were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
Eyewitnesses said the plane was performing a loop but did not complete the manoeuvre and crashed.
Stephen Jones, who saw the crash, said: “The aeroplane involved is a Hawker Hunter T mark 7. And he’d just begun his flying display.
“He’d gone up into a loop and as he was coming out of the loop I just thought, you’re too low, you’re too low, pull up.
“And he flew straight into the ground either on or very close to the A27, which runs past the airport.”
Ailish Southall, who was driving along the A27 in West Sussex with her two children, said the plane came down close to them.
“We were waiting for it to go back up and it didn’t – it seemed to kind of split in two,” she said.
“There were huge amounts of fire and we ran from the car to kind of avoid the debris because we were about 15 metres away, we were just across the road from where the accident happened.”
Another eyewitness, tweeting as Jon B, said: “It (the plane) turned from the north by Lancing College, went to go low towards the airfield and went behind some trees below where I was.
“Then there was a crunch sound and a ball of flames and thick black smoke came up from the ground.”
At the scene
BBC Sussex reporter Simon Jenkins
I’m standing on the middle of the A27 and it’s deserted.
The police are taking no chances whatsoever. I’ve been asked to move back in case of any further explosions.
I’ve been speaking to people and they are absolutely stunned. The plane seems to have stalled mid manoeuvre and came crashing down on the A27.
The acrid smell and thick black smoke has just been fanning across the area and the skies are completely quiet.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said emergency services had declared a “major incident” with a number of helicopters deployed to the scene following the crash at 13:20 BST.
He said: “The casualties are all believed to have occurred on the road at this time and there are not thought to be any injuries to anyone actually on the airfield.
“The Air Accident Investigation Bureau are attending the scene and have asked anyone who has video or photographs of the plane in the time leading up to and including the crash to hold on to them and await advice as to whether they may be wanted to assist with the investigation.”
‘Massive fireball’
Shoreham resident Dave Penwarden, 51, said he saw the plane explode.
“The plane was coming out of a loop-the-loop, it was fairly low,” he said.
“It just didn’t seem to have enough speed to come out of the loop, instead of powering out it dropped too fast and hit the ground.
“There was a massive fireball and an awful lot of smoke. Afterwards there was a stunned silence.”
Gairo Gomez, who works nearby, said: “I heard a huge bang and the glass was shaking and the doors were banging, the whole building was shaking.
“I saw some smoke later on, at the time I didn’t realise what had happened. Then I was told the plane had crashed, it’s terrible.”
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