One crew member I knew for 20 years as a friend,
not a very close friend, just a guy I flew with for a fairly short while, somebody I ran into work now and then who returned the favour when my own wheels weren't available - and let''s face it, even taxis are hard to come by at 3 am on Boxing Day when some bloody Russian is trying to prove Christmas is a decadent fallacy...we just happened to be on 'friendly chat' terms for 20 years or so.
He left somebody I've just seen described as a 'partner' - they didn't mention kids for some reason - I don't think 800k excessive, I find it sobering that this is considered a 'record payout' for a highly trained SNCO with over 20 years flying under his belt.
After all, it's only 486.3 times the claim Sir Peter Viggers made for keeping his duck house in order, and I'm fairly sure that my pal was contributing rather more than 486.3 ducks did to the future of this country. To those who consider it a huge sum, look at the bonuses paid to white collar workers - not just bankers, but they're probably the most obvious targets here.
That this is a 'record' payout is, in my opinion, an indictment of our own priorities.
Apart from that, have a happy Easter and remember "if it's shaped like an egg, it isn't fattening".
Dave