Safety Case - the fact that the people in the USN Fighter Weapons School feel the need to refer to it as Top Gun is exactly the attitude I mean - the 'I'm better than you' arrogance requires a level of egotism that is not healthy in a cockpit but is common place in the military - unfortunately.
Sorry, but that is not my experience with the USN Fighter Weapons School. Their emphasis on safety and professionalism was very real. But maybe you have different experiences with them.
You might have noticed that I have not said a bad word of any pilot or crewmember during this discussion.
What I am concerned about is the apparent lack of operational management control and oversight in the RAF. Crab has repeatedly bashed away at the management of a certain company that is tendering for the UK SAR contract (without bringing that issue into this thread) so I think it is only fair to point at the total lack of leadership and operational control that was demonstrated during this accident. I am sorry I used the term "Corporate Liability" in an earlier post. what I meant was "Corporate Killing" Yes, it is a legal term, google it. And this is what this case is about in my opinion.
Could this happen in a civilian company? Certainly, however, I don't think so if we are talking about a professional offshore operator, with FDM (HOMP) and proper safety culture, policies, training, hands-on monitoring etc. There are many opportunities for those who would like to break or bend the rules in these companies too: test flights, ferry flights, training flights etc.
So some inexperienced guys were left in UK to do noddy tasking, unfortunately with inadequate supervision. It all comes down to poor leadership and a system that promotes the wrong people who seem incapable of leading by good example.
You are most likely right on this
I do believe that if the release of the CVR tapes helps the other junior pilots out there to realise what is and isn't acceptable and prevents another sensless loss of life then it will have been justified. It's not nice for the families but I expect they wish someone had played the crew a similar tape at some point in their training
I strongly disagree that it was right to release the recording to the public and the tabloid press for entertainment purposes, that is what it really is. The recording was not crucial in establishing the causes of this accident.
In cases like this, the public
does not have the right to know. As I said in an earlier post, information gathered by an investigation body is privileged information in certain countries, Denmark for one.
Release for internal use only? Yes, that would have been acceptable.
I have seen pictures of the results of accidents during my accident/incident investigation training. Would I release these to the public? Hardly.
Almost the same thing isn't it?