IT could be months before the wreckage of the two US Air Force F-15 jet fighters which crashed into Ben Macdui last week can be recovered.
Environmental damage caused by the crash may also take at least 10 years to repair.
Representatives of the RAF, the USAF, police, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the North of Scotland Water Authority met yesterday at Mar Lodge to assess the damage caused by the crash in what is one of the most environmentally significant areas in the UK.
Afterwards, Barry Peach, the RAF's Flight Lieutenant, who is overseeing the removal of the wreckage, said ongoing bad weather in the Cairngorms prevented anything from being achieved at present.
Mr Peach said: ''My overriding concern is personal safety. I am not sending people in there to recover the aircraft when the ground is so inhospitable. We are talking nine feet of snow in places and this morning there were winds of 65 mph gusting to 90mph.''
He said that even after the weather improved the recovery operation could take up to 12 weeks.
Some of the worst weather conditions seen in the Cairngorms in 20 years had hampered the search and rescue parties last week but eventually the bodies of Colonel Kenneth Hyvonen, 40, and Captain Kirk Jones, 27 were found near the summit of Ben Macdui.
The pilots had been on a low-flying training mission from their base at RAF Lakenheath, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, last Monday. Eyewitnesses had reported seeing them. A memorial service was held at Lakenheath on Monday.
Major Dave Nelson, a health and safety representative with the US Air Force, said yesterday that the planes had been carrying an estimated 1000 gallons of fuel but it was hoped that the bulk of it would have evaporated. He stressed there were no weapons or live ammunition on board.
A board of investigation had been set up by the US Air Force and a draft report was expected to be produced within 30 days of the accident.
Ron Macdonald, SNH's Grampian area manager, said he was concerned by the environmental legacy of the engine oil, fuel and carbon shards from the planes.
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