Forgive me if this has been answered already as I am only joining the debate now.
I am very, no, extremely worried how regulations and best practice have been adjusted to suit and calm an industry which was complainaing of loss of earnings as a result of the recent clampdown. I will be the first to admit that the initial reaction was heavy handed, but I am at a loss as to how we have reached the place we are in now.
Specifically, and most recently, the RAF have grounded their Tornados because of ash deposits discovered in their engines. The BBC have quoted the CAA as saying that these jets suck in vastly more air than civilian airliners and therefore are a completely seperate case and the public need not worry.
Can someone explain to me how a 9,800lb thrust engine on a Tornado needs "vastly more air" than a 115,000lb thrust B777 engine? Even allowing for the high percentage of thrust developed by fans on modern engines, lets call it 85% on the 777, that would leave 17,000lb being produced by the core. That's about the same as an afterburning Tornado. WTF am I missing here? How can ash levels affect a fighter but not even be considered as a risk to commercial traffic?
Fighters are high performance aircraft because they have a very high thrust to weight ratio not because they have massive engines that produce more power than an Airbus. Strap a CF6 to a Tornado and wouldn't believe what it could do. To discount the RAF situation on the grounds of their machines being "high performance aircraft" borders on criminally negligent.
This whole situation stinks. Simply because once again this industry has decided to ignore it's own experience of hasty regulation and incomplete analysis in favour of ensuring revenue continues to spill in the front door. That's for both the airlines and the authorities.