Engines,
Purely out of interest, I note that you have adjusted your stance slightly since the
same issues were discussed on the original inquest thread, with you now being aligned precisely to
where Chug was in Feb 2014. However I agree entirely with Chug's (and your!) assessment that the drogue shackle overtightening was the cause of the accident, with the inadvertant ejection being a contributory factor, and that the semantics do matter. It will be interesting to see whether the SI's analysis stands up to the judicial scrutiny it might end up receiving in this case.
Some of the comments in this thread already hint toward a theoretical defence from MB along the lines of "yes, there was a flaw in the firing handle design, but it was a zero-zero seat and the death was caused by MOD failing to maintain the drogue shackle properly". However that defence would only get MB so far when you consider that the seat is supposed to be safe to sit on when the aircraft is inside a shelter or hangar; a design flaw which allows inadvertant ejection in those circumstances could not possibly be mitigated by deflecting blame further down the ejection sequence. So it will be very interesting to see whether the charge relates to the seat pan firing handle design or the drogue shackle bolt tightening procedure: if the former, MB may well be in trouble.
It's a very different story if the charge centres on the drogue shackle bolt. I can remember being advised at some point during training on Mk10-equipped aircraft (either at Valley or on the Tornado OCU) to check the drogue shackle for freedom of movement during the pre-flight check of the ejection seat. I can't recall this being written down in any of the APs and my memory is of it being just another piece of received aircrew wisdom. However if anyone has kept a set of Hawk or Tornado FCCs from that era it would be very interesting to see whether 'free to rotate' or words to that effect are mentioned in connection with the shackle. I also remember direction being issued in the mid-2000s, as we entered a brave new world of safety, that ejection seat components should not be touched during the pre-flight checks unless specified in procedures. How ironic that this more 'modern' attitude might have removed a defence against error elsewhere. But I digress... the fact that such aircrew wisdom existed in the period between 1995 and 2005 (dates deliberately widened to preserve anonymity!) shows that someone, somewhere in MOD must have been aware of the potential for overtightening of the drogue shackle bolt. If MB's trial hinges on this point we could be in for a very interesting time.
To end: I hope that Theresa May's Government, with its professed interest in preserving British industry, prevails upon MOD to approach this case with a view to minimising the harm to MB's reputation. MOD isn't going to lose any of its "business" by owning up to faults, but if it chooses to obfuscate it would risk causing severe collateral damage to a great British firm.