Leon
Much of what you say is, of course, correct.
However, I believe TD is talking about deliberate withholding and shredding of evidence a Board of Inquiry or Coroner would regard as vital to their task (helping prevent further occurrences).
That is not routine admin to thin out unnecessary files, but an obstruction of justice and attempt to hide the truth - thus placing their colleagues at risk should it happen again. The line is pretty clearly drawn, in that JSP553 requires an airworthiness audit trail. It is this failure that is being alluded to by Coroners.
The fact that it happens routinely, and continues to have the support of, for example, Ainsworth, is the real disgrace.
Furthermore, when MoD is asked to produce this evidence, they are often disingenuous. The IPT (which may not have existed at the time) will be asked "Do you have this document?". They say "No" and MoD simply say it doesn't exist and take the hit.
But, as everyone knows, airworthiness documentation is routinely copied to the User, Sponsor, Boscombe and other MoD departments, plus of course the Design Authorities responsible for the Safety Cases. The latter would be mad to shred such evidence.
Also, the MoD person with authority for that equipment or aircraft is always encouraged to keep copies of his own decisions. This would be an interesting test of the OSA. If MoD denied the existence of a document while pointing the finger at the airworthiness chap, who then produced his own copy refuting MoD. But MoD don't want to go there, do they?
Last edited by tucumseh; 17th Apr 2009 at 05:52.