Trojan1981,
Let us try to be fair and balanced.
"All the Army people on this forum probably know that there have been many more unreported incidents and accidents over the years."
- I bet that all the Air Force people can probably say the same thing. I could real off a number of Air Force issues that either were under reported. And Air Force has its fair share of cowboys (-ve G in a C130 anyone?)...
"When completing the old Army Y12 cse, an aviation (maintenence) WO2 told me that they had no duty time/fatigue limitations."
- I don't know when you did the course, but there are documented limitations. Army is rather progressive when it comes to reporting maintenance human factors issues. And I know that Air Force techos are under significant pressure to support operations overseas that they sometimes bend the rules to get an aircraft in the air.
I have nothing against what you are trying to say, but this is a public forum and bashing one service does no one any good. This is a systemic issue across the ADF, not just Army. CDF does have responsibility. He was CAF when the tri -ervice Directorate of Flying Safety was diluted with the addition of the Directorate of Air Force Safety a few years ago. What should have been a unit that identified risks within the Defence aviation community prior to an accident was sufficiently diluted so that it became a toothless tiger.
Igor13,
I agree with nearly all of your post. Army Aviation is over-taxed and over-tasked. It is also over-scrutinized, more so since this accident. Your comment that no one has the fortitude to stand up is correct, but those that did stand up in the past were quite unceremoniously and sometimes publicly dismissed.
However, the seeds for these types of accidents were sown many years ago. The squadron in question was a second tour posting a few years ago. To be a co-pilot was 1000 hours. Taking pilots straight off course and exposing them to the tempo/flight regimes/pressure was unfair. How is a 300hr pilot sitting next to a very experienced captain express his/her concerns about the flight profile. Yes, CRM/Aviation Team Training should mean that the co-pilot has the opportunity to speak up, but be realistic.
HLC