Excuse the thread drift...
Originally Posted by
OvertHawk
He lost his life failing to monitor and intervene!! (And failing to supervise and command as well)
Very sad indeed.
OH
You need to correct that bracketed slur on a dead man who exercised more command and leadership than everyone else involved in that sorry tale, combined. Bud Holland was not under McGeehan’s command or supervision. As the Wing standards pilot Holland reported directly to Wing leadership so in command terms they shared common superiors. In supervisory terms, if anything, Holland was supposed to supervise the squadron commanders on the leadership’s behalf. McGeehan complained about Holland’s conduct to Colonel Pellerin (who ended up being fined for dereliction of duty), banned squadron pilots from flying with Holland, and flew as co-pilot if any of his rear crew had to fly with him. Not sure what else he could have done as a commander or supervisor. Who knows whether any monitoring or intervention could have saved the day? Given prior occurrences and the degree of personal animosity between the two men I’d have been unsurprised if Holland simply ignored McGeehan or even fought him on the controls. But there’s no evidence for any of that. McGeehan’s biggest definite failing was flying at all, but that’s easy to say when he would have been under pressure to do so from his superiors, who clearly weren’t too concerned about Holland and needed a display for the families’ day. The command and supervisory failures, both on the day and through the long build-up, were all theirs. Retract.