SPHLC
I will not be content with the two names that this will throw up (probably already named). I would like to know what factors caused them to act the way they did. If the individuals have any sense of self preservation, they will implicate the higher-ups who got us into this mess.
Squidlord
In my experience, most people involved in MoD safety don't actually know what the MoD definition of "safe" is. Ok, you might say, they could always look it up if they needed it. But they don't! I have seen so many MoD Safety Cases and safety assessments and the majority (yes - the majority!) use the wrong definition of "safe". It is pitiful.
I am uneasy about the 3 IPT staffs being named. As SPHLC says, they knew what they were doing, fudged it, and must now stand to account. However, H-C makes much of the need for a “just” system. It is unjust to name 3 juniors (a Gp Capt is very junior in this context) yet disregard the management chain above them. Where was the management oversight and leadership? I do not think either H-C or MoD wanted to go there, because one would immediately see the links to other accidents.
Squidlord is right about the lack of understanding in MoD, and one significant reason is the above senior staffs (2 Star and above) have consistently ruled over many years that the safety and airworthiness regs can be waived. In particular, that physical safety is sufficient, functional safety can be ignored. When staffs see what happens to those who press for the regs to be implemented, is it any wonder they tend to switch off a little?
While no comfort to those who lost loved ones, at a certain level at least the Nimrod IPT understood they had to implement the regs and tried to do so; albeit incompetently. What is the greater offence; that incompetence by the Nimrod IPT, or the abrogation of duty of care by their seniors and other IPTs who don’t bother in the first place? I’ve asked that before and have written replies from two 2 Stars and a 4 Star, who state those who ignore the regs are in the right. The Nimrod IPT problem can be corrected relatively easily. The real problems lie elsewhere. I suspect MoD will be trying to fix the former while shoving the latter under a carpet. But, as someone said, the H-C report was Day 1.