Brian Dixon
I fully agree with your suggested verdict but wondered if there were any other possible verdicts.
Sorry to be slow but are you saying that the criteria I quoted, based presumably on Military Law, (in my day at least, a very different animal) were valid at the time. The criteria say the reviewing officer's decision was based (and required to be based) on his own experience, judgement and opinion. The final sentence of Para 25 says, "It would be wrong to avoid such a finding (of negligence) on the basis of hypotheses for which there was no evidence and which were wholly implausible when tested against the known facts".
Fair or unfair, if indeed valid, these were Rules of the day. I understand how a judges legal decision in a civil court can later be overturned on a point of law but am unclear on what grounds a decision based on someones aviation experience could be overturned (if the above is correct). If I am completely off the mark please say so and I won't persist any further.
Regards
Boslandew