LC re busting limits: If the authorizers view a limit as a rule that is never broken (which I hope they don’t) then busting a limit is a blameworthy transgression; unfortunately this is often the public view.
Alternatively if the limits are interpreted as personal protection (crew and authorizers) and should be used for guidance, an acceptance that errors occur and thus the limits in part quantifies the likely error, then this is a much more professional approach (risk management). Busting a limit in this sense does not warrant any blame, it is the understanding and correction of the error that are important.
Busting the limits per se should not require a BoE, but often it is the circumstances and nature of the bust which leads to such over reaction. It is not the open discussion, emotive or otherwise, which benefits other crews that determines the action required.
In this instance the incident was very public and a close call; I do not believe that this alone warrants a BoE, but like any incident it should be investigated. If a personal debrief (investigation) is sufficient then the matter is closed, but please share what has been learnt (within the military).
The authorizers may have something to learn from the incident, did they overlook a small difference in aircraft behavior or make false assumption about it’s capability against previous ones?
NoD raises a valid point about display minima. I do not know what the RIAT limits were, but a similar responsible airshows, the fast jet minima was 250/300ft for horizontal maneuvers and 500ft for vertical. Many pilots and authorizes assume that such minima can be applied equally to all fast jet types; this is no necessarily true and this is where the professional display pilot knowing both his personal limits and those of the aircraft will make the necessary adjustments.
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Airspeed and Upwardness