Legal Approach
Since you are in possession of all the facts could you please answer me a question.
What proof is there that AH suffered from oxygen desaturation whilst flying?
Is it a theory that he suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain whilst airborne or a medically proven fact?
Earlier I remember it was reported that he said he was not made aware, during his RAF service, of anti-G straining techniques.
This and several other things are where many of us take issue.
He was presented to the jury as a highly experienced pilot. Firstly, a highly experienced pilot of fast jet aircraft in the 21st century would be intimately aware of the effects of G.
Secondly, during his RAF service he completed roughly two flying tours before leaving to fly airliners.
We can surely agree that no matter how many airliner hours you get it will not improve your ability to fly low level fast jet aerobatics.
I would also suggest that someone who has completed two flying tours is not ‘highly experienced’. We all thought we were at that stage in our careers but to be honest what we all need at that stage is protecting from ourselves and our self perceived indestructibility.
If you now take that self professed flying expert and fast forward through 20 years of relative inactivity in the fast jet sense you do not have a recipe for perfection.
If you stuck me in an airliner for twenty years and then asked me to fly any single engine, swept wing fast jet trainer (similar to a Hawk) and asked me to fly displays in public I would not suggest that would be a great idea.
You are obviously a legal expert and I am not. AH’s defence team did what they were paid to do and won their case.
Surely, as a result of that legal defence the only morally correct outcome from this case is to put a complete stop to all displays of privately owned fast jet aircraft (and probably any aircraft capable of sustained high G).
All those that leapt to the defence of AH and his outstanding experience will need to accept that in doing so they may have brought an end to the thing they love so much.
I’m not suggesting they should have thrown him under the bus but the cat is now out of the bag and you’ll struggle to get it back in.
If I, as a currently serving fast jet pilot, am saying that I will not go anywhere near a display of such aircraft how would a discerning member of the public feel?
In summary, you say it annoys you that people question the outcome of the trial but you are more than happy to question the experience of many highly experienced people. People who have formed their opinions over many 1000’s of hours of flying fast jet aircraft.
We can all accept that AH was not criminally negligent. What we are struggling to accept is why he was displaying a Hunter on that fateful day.
BV