Women who were sexually harassed in the Red Arrows have spoken publicly for the first time
An inquiry that was released earlier this year found predatory behaviour in the elite squadron was so widespread, servicewomen had to club together to protect each other
Last updated 27th Dec 2023
Victims of predatory behaviour by servicemen in the Red Arrows have described an inquiry into their treatment as a mockery of justice.
A report last month found sexual harassment in the air display squadron was widespread and "normalised".
Two pilots were sacked and nine others sanctioned.
But it appears the RAF hasn't told victims who was punished and for what.
The Red Arrows, known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force, based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.
The team first formed in late 1964, replacing a number of unofficial teams that had been sponsored by RAF commands.
The Red Arrows have a prominent place in British popular culture, with their aerobatic displays a fixture of British summer events.
But in this recent inquiry, which was published on November 1st 2023, the findings were damning, confirming widespread unacceptable behaviours including sexual harassment, the exposure of genitals and predatory activity.
The report also found an "alcohol-focused culture" had existed in the squadron, as well as bullying with too many bystanders failing to call out the wrongdoing.
The RAF revealed a second investigation had been initiated into allegations of failure by the chain of command. Both reports were heavily redacted, apparently to protect identities rather than to protect the RAF from embarrassment.
In total, two pilots were sacked and nine individuals were sanctioned.
Now, the women at the centre of this have spoken out exclusively to Sky News.
Names have been changed to protect the women's identities.
One of them - Kate - was an officer in training.
"I felt really uncomfortable, almost dirty, actually," she says.
Rather than a dream come true, Kate's time on the world-famous squadron rapidly became a nightmare as, she claims, she suffered sexual harassment, sleaze and bullying in a scandal that ultimately triggered a Royal Air Force inquiry.
Now, she and other victims are breaking cover for the first time on camera to describe their experiences of a "toxic culture" in the Red Arrows in an exclusive Sky News documentary.
The three women and one man, all former members of the squadron, have also strongly criticised the RAF's internal investigation into the crisis as a travesty of justice.
In a damning indictment of a process that was meant to provide answers, the victims said the secretive nature of the non-statutory inquiry had inflicted a "second wound".
They accused air chiefs of "marking their own homework", saying that no one kept them updated right up until the day the findings were published last month. They have not even seen an unredacted version of their own evidence.
The victims claimed the air force has misled the public by telling parliament that none of the allegations heard by the inquiry team met a criminal threshold.
Kate said she and others chose not to go to the police because they had focused on speaking to the inquiry – so the police never interviewed them to test independently whether there had been a criminal case to answer.
Finally, the RAF is accused of a lack of curiosity over the scandal, with the inquiry team only tasked with examining what happened between 2017 and 2021, rather than attempting to find out how far back a "toxic pocket" of unacceptable behaviours in the Red Arrows went.
"They want us quiet and think it will go away. That's not going to happen because none of us are happy with how it's been dealt with," says Kate.
“It's appalling. We haven't had any justice.”
Growing up, Kate’s heroes had been the daring display pilots on the Red Arrows. She decided to join the Royal Air Force a few years ago to become an officer. To her excitement, Kate was soon sent to work for the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, or Red Arrows, while she was waiting to move on with her training.
Her first day at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, where the squadron was previously based, felt like a dream until the moment she received that ominous warning about how as a "young, junior trainee" she could be a target for predatory crew members.
A number of Kate’s male teammates began to make excuses to visit her office.
“They see it as fresh meat being on squadron and they all kind of wanted to ogle me. So it was almost being in like a fishbowl really,” she said.
With a small team of display pilots - each one picked from the RAF's pool of elite fast jet aviators - and dozens of highly-trained ground crew, the squadron's motto is excellence.
The personnel work hard all year round to train for, and then perform, one of the world's most spectacular aerobatic displays. It is incredibly skilled and dangerous work.
Yet, on the ground, at that time, Kate witnessed and experienced what she describes as an "absolutely toxic" culture. "Some pilots were untouchable… that's why it was so dangerous."
She claims one pilot bombarded her with text messages and pursued her on a night out with the squadron while on tour overseas. "I was plied with alcohol and I woke up with that pilot in my room the next day - not really knowing what had happened."
She was in no fit state to consent to any kind of intimacy, she says.
"He told me if I told anybody I would be kicked out of the air force. I would lose my job and be sent home immediately. I blamed myself.”
To this day, Kate finds it difficult to talk about exactly what happened to her that night, and over the next few months, when she claimed the pilot continued to pursue her. She alleges he turned other pilots against her and used emotional threats so she would continue the relationship and stay quiet.
Kate says she finally decided to tell her chain of command about what was happening and that they then failed to take appropriate action. Ultimately, she chose to leave the air force.
But, still worried about what she had witnessed on the Red Arrows, she decided to "go big" and asked the then head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, for a meeting - along with other women from the squadron who had allegedly suffered similar experiences.
He met with Kate and a second woman in December 2021 and launched the non-statutory inquiry.
A Royal Air Force spokesperson said:
"Two comprehensive and thorough investigations have been completed relating to unacceptable behaviours within the Red Arrows. The findings of the investigations led to action being taken against several individuals, up to and including dismissal from the Service.
"This was followed by an unreserved apology from the Chief of the Air Staff and the introduction of many changes within the unit based on the recommendations of the reports.
"As CAS has previously stated, any new evidence on unacceptable behaviours anywhere in the RAF will be thoroughly investigated. Where appropriate, he will not hesitate to use the most severe sanctions available to deal with those whose behaviour harms others."
We'll have more on this story throughout the day.