The fact that The Sun and others are wheeling out heavyweight aviation experts such as Jordan Jones, 18, a greenkeeper for Porthcawl, for their opinion really says it all. His expert opinion, that the pilots were showing off and doing stunts, is clearly worthless and fortunately most people, even Sun readers can see it for what it is. The papers should be embarrassed to publish such pointless, ill-informed drivel, but that has never stopped them before.
Everyone in aviation should know by now that eye-witnesses are notoriously unreliable, and so even the 'facts' of this accident reported in the media (as opposed to downright opinion) are far from certain. One eye-witness account implied that the aircraft were in formation, another that they were definitely not in formation and another that one or both were doing aerobatics.
I would be surpised if these aircraft had been flying in formation (authed or otherwise). No way would control be given to first-time-in-an-aeroplane 13 year olds if in formation. Formation aeros on an AEF sortie - not a chance. Do aircraft in formation collide when being flown by trained military pilots - very rarely.
My gut feeling is that this is just a random collision between two aircraft operating independently; perhaps one transiting the area and the other doing aerobatics. A bad luck example of an inherent risk in aviation. 'Big sky theory' and 'see and avoid' will never be 100% effective and this kind of accident though very rare is virtually unavoidable. Bear in mind that good lookout will have been drilled into these pilots. The RAF know that a zero accident rate cannot be achieved in military flying - fortunately the AEF accident rate is very close to zero. Flying or any other fun activities carry a certain degree of risk, unavoidable accidents do occur and sometimes nobody is blameworthy. The media, public and some ppruners would do well do dwell on that for a moment.
That said, this is an absolutely tragic event and I'm sure that everyone feels in some way connected. This must not be allowed to inhibit the AEF, nor should kids be wrapped in cotton wool.
Last edited by Fg Off Max Stout; 17th Feb 2009 at 12:03.