Susan,
That you can be so supportive of Rick and Jon is perhaps the best indication of the strength of feeling against this terrible injustice.
Having helped teach one of the pilots to fly helicopters and known them both, I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments about the characters involved.
It should be borne in mind that K52, by his own admission, has no helicopter experience but was apparently put in the position of an adviser to Mr Wratton, who as a jet pilot, similarly never qualified to fly helicopters and had little experience of Support Helicopter operations other than that given by his advisers.
Having flown for a number of years as an SH pilot and A2 QHI (and a QFI), including in the NI theatre of operations, I remain convinced that this was almost undoubtedly an accident caused by poor management. In the circumstances Rick and Jon's names could have been substituted by any number of other names, possibly my own included.
[ 14 July 2001: Message edited by: ShyTorque ]