Bahrain 2012: Saudi Hawks cancel planned appearance

One of the Saudi Hawks BAE Hawk aircraft crashed on December 20 during a routine training flight from King Faisal Air Base at Tabuk, the team’s home base.

The aircraft suffered an engine failure following a bird-strike and the team’s No.4, Flight-Lieutenant Musa ibn Yahya Faifi, was forced to eject.

A few days later, a second aircraft was damaged and its pilot injured, after it made an emergency landing at Tabuk. The pilot reported problems after taking off and requested that a landing strip be prepared with fireproof foam.

It isn’t clear whether the aircraft made a wheels-up landing, or whether the gear collapsed on landing, but the pilot was injured.