IT is still not known when the cause of the crash that killed a Red Arrows pilot in Bournemouth will be revealed.

At the start of this year the Ministry of Defence said it was likely to be April or May before the Service Inquiry into the death of Flt Lt Jon Egging, 33, would be concluded following the crash at Throop last August.

With that time frame long passed, the MOD yesterday said there had been no updates regarding the inquiry. Once it is completed and the cause of the fatal crash determined, an inquest into the pilot’s death will be held.

Flt Lt Egging’s Hawk jet came down shortly after the team had displayed at Bournemouth Air Festival.

Terry Trevett, chairman of Bournemouth Red Arrows Association, said: “They’ve got a job to do and it is being done extremely thoroughly so that if there are lessons to be learned from the event then the RAF in particular will be paying very close attention.”

The Service Inquiry Panel is being led by a RAF Wing Commander, who acts as President.

He is being assisted by an aviation engineer from the Army and an experienced RAF Hawk pilot, the type of aircraft that the Red Arrows use.

The inquiry is also being helped by the Military Air Accident Investigation Branch, which was deployed to the scene immediately after the accident to collect and preserve evidence.

The aim of the inquiry is “to establish the cause of the accident through a thorough investigation and to make recommendations to prevent recurrence”.

In the wake of Flt Lt Egging’s death, the people of Bournemouth were united in their grief and tributes, leaving masses of flowers at the town hall and writing in books of condolence.

A memorial sculpture is being planned for Bournemouth’s East Cliff.

The Red Arrows were shaken again last November when Flt Lt Sean Cunningham, 35, lost his life after the seat of his jet ejected while it was on the ground at the team’s home base, RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire.