Charles Haddon-Caves's report
I have not seen any of the television coverage of todays report, however as a family member who sat through the inquest and who has spent today being briefed on the findings by Haddon-Cave and his colleagues on his reportI would like to make one or two observations.
1. Regarding the impartiality of a MAA which is part of MoD, Haddon-Caves proposals are that their activities should be subject to independant scrutiny, such as the CAA and / or the HSE.
2. Air Commodore Baber, at the inquest, admitted responsibility and stated that the buck stopped with him. A lone voice in the wilderness.
3. The way that the report was viewed by the relatives of the crew of XV230 was evidenced by the spontaneous applause for Charles Haddon-Cave when he returned to his Chambers after the media briefing.
4. The Minister gave a very unconvincing performance when faced by the families today which resulted in some walking out of the meeting.
5. I think this report should should be compulsory reading for anyone who aspires to a position of, or career in safety management.
Whatever is said will not turn back the clock, nor will it bring back the crew of XV230, but if it prevents a similar occurence in the future it will have served its purpose. My wife and I have many friends on the Nimrod fleet and we hope that the implementation of this report may go some way toward keeping them safe.