Of course they're designed to be hit! Only not 3 feet from the ground! They are covered in a reinforcing webbing around the base. Steve hit the bit your not supposed to hit and bust the spat on his starboard U/C. My point was more about the height rather than the hit (misleading title perhaps), but having said that, ploughing right through the pylon was a fairly radical manoeuver, which I don't suppose is in the pilots manual.
He had just pulled over 9G in the previous turn. These guys are frequently pulling very high G turns just feet above the ground but fortunately, incidents like this one are extremely rare. They are rather good though aren't they? What a place to lose SA though!
