I do not want to appear disrespectful, this is not my intention now or ever.
TD, you are a grieving father and this crusade which you have set yourself upon has all come about because of the loss of your son. I am sure that at points over the years your son would have made comments to you about frustration towards problems on the fleet, and yet no fight took place back then to ensure the safety of the crew who flew on them, or to protect the morale and emotional stability of all those who work on the Nimrod line, or to protect are own.
I was aware of my loved ones frustration, and yet he still had the confidence to step on board the Nimrod, he had the confidence in the ground crews abilities. They must all have had that same confidence or they would not have flown the Nimrod for so many years. If not for the accident, they would still be choosing to fly and still showing that same confidence, I share his confidence.
It has been said to me in this thread several times, that if I do not want to see or hear the speculation then to simply not use this forum, if it was contained to a rumour network then that would be a possibility, however, the speculation has been a constant appearance in the media, newspapers, television, radio ect. It has been an impossible feat to keep it away, it is this which has caused the calls to cease the speculation.
Some people here may believe that what they say is in no way specualtion to the cause or events, however, when someone is so emotionally involved in a tragic event such as this, any opinion given from an experienced person may be conceived as being based on fact.
Yes we have been told of a bomb bay fire, we have been informed of a fuel leak, this was done so right at the start, what none of us know is why. I wait for the BOI because I am only interested in fact, never in what could have been. The "could have beens" are for my nightmares only but have no part in my reality.
The reality is that 14 men died that day, they are not the first to have died and they have not been the last, none of them, no matter what, will be coming back, nothing can bring them back. If anything can be used to help prevent more deaths, it will only be points based on fact.