STUNNED spectators have described the moment the 1942 King Cobra aeroplane exploded sending a “70-foot plume of red flames” into the sky. Nicola Fry, 44, of Mungo Park, Orpington, said: “I watched it come down and thought it would pull up but when it hit the ground, I leapt up and screamed.

“There was a huge explosion, a 75-ft plume of red flame and a stunned silence. It's unbelievable. I've been coming for four years and its the first time I've seen anything like this.”

And Jason Cuffe, 23, of Goudhurst Road, Bromley, said: “He went up from a loop and at first it looked like he stalled.

“As the fireball went up people just couldn't believe what they had seen but after that it was deathly quiet until the silence was broken by the loudspeaker.”

Kay Clarke, 44, of Brampton Road, Bexleyheath also had a front-row seat at the airshow and watched in horror with her husband as the doomed American plane plummeted to the ground.

She said: “The whole crowd gasped together and jumped up at the same time.

“It was an horrific thing to witness and you could tell by the stunned silence everyone in the crowd realised how terrible it was.

“I'm not sure why the pilot couldn't pull up. He just seemed to be completing the manoeuvre too low.

“He must have misjudged his height and by the time he reacted it was too late.”