I'm non-aircrew & therefore not terribly qualified (or seeking) to pass any kind of judgement here, but I'm a bit confused:
Were these gentlemen due to fly next day?
Were they on standby to fly next day?
Were they due to attend work at all next day?
Were they on stand-down/rest next day?
These are not facetious questions; I'm just trying to get the picture here.
HB
I heard that the two invoved were the Squadron CO and 2IC - if that is true then the answers to your questions are self-evident.
This incident also needs to be judged against the backdrop of the media campaign by the RAF prior to this incident. There had been a number of leaks to the press describing how due to defence cutbacks we did not have enough Typhoon pilots, that only eight were current for ground-attack operations, and that there weren't enough spares to maintain operations. It will be a lot harder now for the RAF to place stories in the media about the effect of defence cuts on Typhoon operations.