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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1670852
Signed:
I remember the accident well and the tireless efforts by the pilots' relatives , in the face of merciless government obfuscation, to get their names cleared.

Such a brilliant story of triumph over official lies and concealment should always be available in full to all and not conveniently 'buried' for ever by partial destruction of the records.

The whole miserable case was a credit to the families' tenacity.

C'mon forumites, think about it.

Peter :wink:
#1670906
Hmmmm, I think we need to be careful when linking some of the fatalities directly with the Airworthiness issue. For example, the original furore surrounding the Mull accident was due to the RAF not following it’s own extremely stringent rules regarding the ‘judgement’ of Gross Negligence. As part of the case to cast doubt (ie overturn the Gross Negligence finding), the airworthiness issue was brought to the fore. Those of us who spent a long time on the periphery of the event tend to agree that the crew ‘probably’ got it wrong but there wasn’t unequivocal evidence; there was doubt. Of course, the stone turned-over by the airworthiness issue ultimately brought far greater concerns.

My point - the Aiworthiness scandal is most definitely a scandal but we need to be careful when making direct links between that and some fatalities, unless one wishes to present the singular argument that the aircraft shouldn’t have been airborne in the first place. For sure, there was a direct airworthiness link for Nimrod and Sean Cunningham’s ejection. Some of the other events don’t necessarily have a direct link.
gasman, AlanC, gaznav and 1 others liked this
#1670910
I don't disagree with you, Dave, but the point here is the records should be archived at National Archives, Kew, and not destroyed. Then, in the future, they should be released into the public domain, warts and all, for historians to study.
Pete L, Ben K liked this