Originally Posted by
pba_target
Being a CFAOS organisation for watchkeeper I'd suspect, Thales would not be bound by the in-service RTS but would have their own (likely similar) document that may be more or less restrictive in various areas. If they were bound by the RTS it'd be pretty hard to do developmental test flying which, almost by definition, is doing stuff that is novel and untested and, therefore, not in the RTS...
Thanks for that, pba. Could you please say what CFAOS is, and what or who it is answerable to if not the MOD?
AFAIK there are only two relevant Regulatory Aviation Authorities, the CAA/EASA and the MAA. Presumably Thales operates Watchkeeper testing under one or the other?
Of course testing means going outside of the Military RTS but presumably not recklessly, so was this accident the result of systematically testing the boundaries of the aircraft or simple carelessness? What was the role of the MOD Duty Holder in what happened, if any?
Thanks