Originally Posted by
airsound
... the FCC had noticed the low entry height and the strange performance of the first half of the loop: they had discussed a STOP call, but decided that it would be too much of a distraction to the pilot at what was clearly a very busy moment, he said.
Thanks for the clarification. I don't think this was covered by the AAIB investigation and it didn't come out in any of the reporting from the criminal trial so it's been nagging for a long time.