THE wingwalkers are “very excited” to be returning to this year’s Bournemouth Air Festival - performing on all four days of the popular event.

The AeroSuperBatics will bring their action-packed flying routines back to the Bournemouth coastline, a year after one plane was ditched into the sea just moments after a performance on the Saturday of the flying show.

Pilot David Barrell and wingwalker Kirsten Pobjoy sustained minor injuries, while air festival organisers suspended flying for the rest of that day.

Lead display pilot, Mr Barrell, told the Daily Echo ahead of their return in 2022: “It’s one of our best, if not the best air show in our calendar. I’ve been doing it since 2007 and the atmosphere is always electric.

“It’s a free air show so you get billions of people coming to watch. The show has a fantastic reputation. The organisation is exceptional, and we get very well looked after.

“For us, it’s the highlight of the calendar because it’s such a great place to be. We’re very excited to be there.”

This year’s air festival will take place between Thursday, September 1 and Sunday, September 4, and will feature a new and exciting flying routine by the wingwalkers.

He added: “We have a display season which runs from May until the end of September. So, in April, we get our team together, and we train up any new people. We work up a routine which is then fixed for the whole year.

“The routine stays the same throughout the season which is advantageous in a number of ways. Everyone in the team knows what is coming next, and so if you get something unusual you can deal with it.”

Last year, one wingwalker plane had to carry out a “successful ditching” in Poole Harbour on the third day of the event.

An investigation was launched by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) following the "successful ditching". It remains ongoing, with investigations typically taking 9-12 months to complete.

David said: “It’s something that we train for, and we brief it thoroughly before every single flight just to make sure that everybody’s clear in what to do if anything happens.”