THE decision by the Red Arrows to abort their display at the Yorkshire Airshow last summer caused great disappointment and anger.

Squadron Leader Spike Jepson had to take his team home after no fewer than four aircraft drifted into the exclusion zone.

Thousands of families gathered to watch the Red Arrows perform astonishing aerobatics at breathtaking speed. Another aircraft could so easily have precipitated a terrible disaster.

At the time, those involved were understandably furious. Sq Lr Jepson said "there is absolutely no excuse for anyone potentially endangering the safety of either my team or the general public".

Airshow organiser Ken Cothliff echoed that. "It is totally inexcusable," he said. He had never experienced anything like it in ten years.

Considering the gravity of the offences, we assumed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would have come down hard on all the offenders. In the event, only Chris Bingham faced charges. And he was the one who voluntarily came forward to apologise for his mistake.

The pilot of the aircraft said in court to have caused the most serious infringement, the microlight, was one of three not to be prosecuted.

Chris Bingham was fined £250. That is the entire penalty the CAA secured for the actions of four pilots whose irresponsibility could have caused an horrific tragedy.

Compared with the fines levied on motorists for comparatively minor offences, this seems remarkably lenient. It certainly does not send out the right message to private pilots.

We hope the CAA is taking other steps to ensure that future airshows are safeguarded from thoughtless aviators.

Updated: 11:02 Friday, April 16, 2004