a debate about a debate
It is time to discuss this matter in the open
The Twin fire on the ground at North Weald involves a PPRUNE poster who is much respected by much (if not all) of the community.
Another much respected PPRUNE poster has asked (see biz jet thread David Green and FSD) not to comment or speculate as it would be too harsh for the relatives.
Yet we do discuss accidents here, extensively, because we aim to learn from them. We speculate without accusing, with a clear purpose, namely to learn from the analysis more than from the accident itself. Yet the accident itself is the immediate trigger which provides the trigger for the discussion.
By now we know who was the pilot, we think we know that the fire was a fire on the ground outside opening hours of the airfield, when he went back to the airplane to collect something.
If we fail to use that trigger, the discussion is less likely to happen or at least to be less intense. It all has to do with human nature.
Of course there are always those who object to this speculation and those who advocate it.
This time the question is should we refrain more from speculation in this case because he is a valued member of our community? That seems illogical and unfair.
If something happened to me in GA, people would be free to speculate on this forum from my point of view, and I would urge my relatives who cannot stomach this, to not visit this forum. It would be something good coming out of something bad in my view.