“As it gained altitude, the flame disappeared but it was clearly in trouble.
“It climbed at an aggressive pitch… It pitched twice violently in the air and then there were two clear loud bangs. The pilots ejected and both parachutes opened.”
Both pilots sustained minor injuries, the RAF confirmed at the time.
However, the air force confirmed they were in “extremely high spirits and expected to make a full recovery”.
As a precautionary measure, the RAF suspended all Hawk operations until October 8, a fleet which consists of 26 aircraft.
The grounding extended to the Red Arrows display team, which flies the older Hawk T1 variant, although the aerobatic squadron had not been scheduled to take to the skies four days later.