BOURNEMOUTH Air Festival Hawker Hunter pilot Jonathon Whaley has called for an end to 'inappropriate speculation' about the cause of the Shoreham air show tragedy.

The former Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm man, a highly experienced Hunter pilot, said his "heart goes out" to all the families and friends of those killed, injured or traumatised by the crash.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, Mr Whaley - a regular at the Bournemouth Air Festival behind the controls of his Hawker Hunter Miss Demeanour - declined to comment, other than to pass his condolences onto those left grieving.

But now he's decided to speak out because of "ill-informed comments and speculation by self-called experts on display flying and Hunters in particular."

Mr Whaley, who point blank refuses to speculate on any cause of the accident that claimed 11 lives, explained: "The Air Accidents Investigations Branch will take what time is necessary to gather all relevant and perhaps what others might think irrelevant information, before even starting to piece together events.

"Only then will they go on to draw conclusions. Following that, they will undoubtedly make recommendations in the wake of their enquiry."

It is understood that the 1950s Hawker Hunter that crashed into the A27 would not have been equipped with a 'black box' flight data recorder.

Mr Whaley says crash investigators will rebuild pilot Andy Hill's planned flight "as if they were flight planning it themselves." Mr Hill remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Radio communications, radar tracks, eye-witnesses, other Hunter pilots and mechanics will all be analysed and interviewed, he said.

"This will take some months and cannot be rushed. They may come up with an interim finding if there is something that can not wait for the full report.

"There is a public outcry for 'something to be done'. It is natural. The question is where is the line drawn?"

The Civil Aviation Authority has already grounded all Hawker Hunters, and a number of air shows set for the bank holiday only proceeded after agreeing to alter their flying schedules. All vintage jets have been banned from carrying out high-energy acrobatics over land.

Mr Whaley added: "It is human nature to speculate but such speculation should not be made public where others might take it as gospel.

"It doesn't help if that person's speculation was based on the fact that they looked in their log book and saw they once flew a Hunter forty years ago."

On Saturday hundreds of people gathered close the the site of the disaster to observe one-minute's silence.

  • HAWKER Hunters are "one of the most delightful and simple aircraft to fly," says Jonathon 'Flapjack' Whaley.

"Yes, more demanding than a light aircraft because things happen more quickly," he added, but: "In a Hunter in the UK a suitable runway is no more than five or ten minutes away."

The former Royal Navy jet fighter-bomber pilot says the skill level required to fly a Hunter is not as great as flying a Spitfire, or other big piston fighters.

"In fact, the further you go back in warbird aircraft age, the more difficult they become," said the aerobatic display aviator.

He added: "The Hunter is at the peak of simplicity for all military jets of any type before moving on in time to later military aircraft.

"With regards to the Hunter's age, Hunter aircraft are still operated by civilian contractors providing the military with services for which the military do not want to tie up their costly assets.

"Why? Because they are simple and safe to operate.

"It was and I believe still stands as the UK's largest exported military aircraft type and was revered by all countries and pilots who flew them."