On the 23rd of September 2026, a Royal Air Force Hawk T2 jet trainer crashed near Pencarnisiog, Anglesey.

The Hawk T2 is the RAF’s designation for the BAE Systems Hawk 128: an aerobatic two-seat trainer with a glass cockpit whose controls are designed to resemble the Typhoon’s. The Hawk, based on a design from Hawker Siddeley, came into service in 1976, after the Jaguar B proved too costly. The T2 became operational at RAF Valley in 2009.

RAF Valley is at Llanfair-yn-Neubwll on the west coast of the island of Anglesey in Wales. It is a popular spot for plane spotters, as there is a clear view of the runway just outside of the seaside village Rhosneigr. The T2 is flown by IV Squadron and XXV(F) Squadron, who are both part of No 4 Flying Training School. RAF Valley also hosts mountain and maritime training for helicopter pilots and the RAF Mountain Rescue Service.

The Royal Air Force ordered 28 BAE Systems Hawk T2s in October 2006; this is the first loss.

I love this Royal Air Force video showing the Hawk T2 departing from RAF Valley (though you may want sound off to avoid the music).

On Wednesday, an RAF Hawk T2 departed RAF Valley with an instructor and a pilot on board.

A local man and former RAF pilot shared footage from a plane spotter who filmed the take-off run and initial climb from outside of the RAF Valley perimeter. North Wales Live apparently credits Finley Thompson with the video but their site is so full of adverts, I can’t get the page to load the videos.

Exclusive: a Hawk T2 getting airborne from RAF Valley, N. Wales. As it rolls down the runway flames appear from the rear of the jet. The Hawk T2 does not have reheat (afterburner). As the jet climbs the flames seem to disappear. The main Hydraulic system is on the rear left side. https://t.co/WafevD2BQg

— Mikey Kay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@MikeyKayFilms) September 23, 2026

The video shows flames appearing at the end of the runway roll and then again flashing repeatedly once the aircraft is climbing away.

The BBC spoke to him in an article about the video:

“You never ever see flames coming out of the back of a Hawk,” he said, adding that in the video, the flames can be seen coming off the side of the engine – where the main hydraulics system is, which controls how the plane flies – and not out of the engine.

Various people in the local area saw orange light or flames at the rear of the aircraft as it took off: a local resident and a man watching from the beach with his wife. A golfer on the 14th fairway looked up after hearing a bang and saw the aircraft come down. The owner of a local caravan park looked out of his kitchen window to see fire and flames, and went out to see wreckage and debris all over the caravan site.

The two pilots ejected from the aircraft. This ITV news segment shows the ejections followed by the aircraft oscillating and then coming down near some farm buildings. Other media credit the video to a Facebook post by Danni Jones, with the burning building credited to John Heyworth.

Greg Bagwell highlighted the angle of the ejections on X:

The double Hawk ejection today was spectacular. Tandem seats can be fired independently or as a result of one of the pilots initiating the sequence for both. Note the diverging angle; the seats are designed to fly that way to increase separation prior to the parachutes opening. pic.twitter.com/jHZUFOYk2L

— Greg Bagwell (@gregbagwell) September 23, 2026

Hawk aircraft are fitted with Martin-Baker Mk10 ejection seats which are designed to work even at zero altitude and zero forward speed. Their project page states that 1,400 lives have been saved to date using Mk10 ejection seats. I guess now we can call it 1,402.

The empty aircraft crashed into a farm field and burst into flames. North Wales Police, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS), Wales Air Ambulance, Welsh Ambulance Service and the Coastguard all attended the scene.

Both pilots were located shortly after ejecting. They were both taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. No one else was harmed.

The RAF confirmed yesterday that the pilots were a qualified instructor and a trainee and that they declared an emergency before ejecting. A formal investigation is under way. The RAF have paused Hawk T1 and T2 flying operations as a precautionary measure.

A few side notes:

1) While writing this update, most of my time was spent trying to find and credit the correct sources for the videos and images being published by mainstream media without attribution. It is wild to me that people are crediting “onlookers” and “bystanders” and not giving a single link back to the people who shared their video or photographic footage.

2) I have long wanted to visit one of the Mach Loop viewpoints to see the low-flying practice runs. I briefly lived in Swansea in South Wales and was disappointed to discover that I could not simply take a train north, I needed to travel east into England and north and then back west to get to Machynlleth and then a bus to the viewpoint, which could not be done as a day trip. One day maybe I’ll take a tent and a backpack and see for myself.

3) I promise to get back to our runway excursion at Barcelona next week!