The Sandbag Times Issue No:16

RAF Student Pilots Die in
Light Aircraft Crash
Prince Harry Launches Invictus Games in Toronto
Prince Harry has made a passionate
plea for Britain to come out and
support a Paralympics style
championship for injured
servicemen and women that he has
launched.
Harry suggested the sporting event,
called the Invictus Games, would
ensure UK troops would not be
forgotten as Britain's involvement in
the war in Afghanistan comes to an
end. He has been instrumental in
bringing the idea for the
championship from America, where
it is called the Warrior Games, to the
UK after seeing the event staged in
Colorado last year.
Tributes were paid today to an
“exceptionally talented” student RAF pilot
from London who was killed alongside his
co-pilot when their aircraft crashed in a
remote field.
Ajvir Singh Sandhu, 25, from Ilford, and
Cameron Forster, 21, from Sussex, both
died instantly when the single-engine
Slingsby T67 came down.
The two were both stationed at RAF
Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, an
elite Top Gun-style academy 15 miles
from the crash scene where promising
young pilots learn to fly fast jets.
They chartered the plane from the Full
Sutton Flying Centre, where a worker
claimed they had been planning to do “a
"It's not about supporting the
conflict in Afghanistan, it's not
about supporting war, it's not
about supporting the forces
themselves, but come along, show
your support, look at the journey
these guys have been through,"
"And also take the opportunity if
you haven't done so already to
come and sit in these iconic
Olympic and Paralympic venues.
Events will be staged in the
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
with track and field events being
held at the Lee Valley athletics
centre.
spot of aerobatics”. The craft crash-landed
around 200 yards from the nearest homes in
fields between Castle Howard and the A64
at 10.40am on Saturday.
RAF Linton-on-Ouse station commander
Group Captain Ian Laing said the base had
been “saddened” to learn of the men’s
deaths.
“The thoughts of everyone at RAF Lintonon-Ouse
are with their family and friends at
this difficult time”.
Roads in the area were closed and members
of the public were advised to keep away
from the area as police cordoned it off to
preserve the scene for the AAIB. Up to 20
fire-fighters attended the scene and set up a
foam blanket around the aircraft.
Johnny Mercer calls for better Veterans Care
Plymouth MP Johnny Mercer
has used a speech at a
national mental health
conference to renew his call
for drastic improvements in
veterans' care.
"As we see campaigns in Iraq
and Afghanistan coming to a
close, public giving and
awareness will drop – and
some charities have already
seen that,“
Addressing a crowd of experts
gathered for the King's
College event, the former
serviceman said good progress
has been made in the sector in
recent years.
But he said now is the time to
make further "fundamental"
reforms, as overseas
campaigns come to an end
and political focus begins to
wane.
One of the possible solutions,
he suggests, is more effective
coordination between
charities and state-provided
services. But he has also
reissued his call for the
Government to create a
special department for
veterans, similar to the
existing US model. This
would be in the form of a
department for veterans'
affairs.