Fly past was perfectly safe and described by the Cathay DFO as 'spectacular' in his weekly newsletter to the crews. He attached photos of the flyby which looked very spectacular indeed.
As soon as the rumours of the pass being unauthorised started, however, a rapid 'distancing' stance was adopted ending up with a complete 180 by said DFO who put out a notice to crews saying that the pilot had been terminated etc etc.
Leadership in the modern age eh?
Hard luck Ian - now you know how the 49ers felt!!
At least you were afforded the benefit of a Discipline and Grievance procedure - they weren't.