TD said:
dodgysootie
Every flight would have been given a proper post-flight check for any faults
As i said above it was said that people should
be aware of the potential for failure in areas not previously subject to inspection regimes.
I hope that you never fly on civilian airlines if this is your concern. The turn-round procedures, items checked and time taken over these checks on RAF aircraft is far greater than the cursory 30 minute glance that most airlines get in order to maximise profits!
Using your own argument:
If [someone] was killed in a car crash driving a Ford...
Would you have expected them to have carried out pre-drive checks before his journey on
EVERY component of their car? Probably the answer would be no. You would reasonably expect them to have checked the standard items (fuel, oil, water, hydraulic fluids, tyres and lights), the items that have been identified as the most likely sources of failure/accident.
If all aircraft were checked to the degree that you are implying then you would see only about 10% of scheduled flights compared to current levels and it would probably take a few days to turn a Nimrod rather than a few hours! Keep things in perspective.
And, surprisingly, I find myself for once agreeing with MightyHunter AGE
It appears that you do not understand what is classed as a fuel 'leak'. Using your car analogy again, I am sure that the underside of your car engine shows evidence of oil leakage, probably just a slight damp staining. Does this overly concern you? Does it make your car unsafe to drive? If you saw the odd drip from coming from the sump you would probably investigate to see if there was a risk to the safety of the engine, car or yourself. If the oil was flowing as a steady stream from the sump I would imagine you would get your car fixed straight away. All of these are oil leaks, just of differing severity and potential risk, at one end of the scale the risk is totally acceptable for a safe journey to be made, at the other end the risk is not.
As I have said to you before, I lost several friends on 230 but can not begin to imagine how you and the other families must be feeling.
BUT, you need to keep things in perspective. A slight seepage leaving little more than a stain is classed as a leak, as is a steady flow of fuel - both leaks - one acceptable the other not.
MadMark!!!
