I am afraid it’s me again, this time concerning XP 753, Mike Thompson’s accident. I do seem to have been in the wrong places at the right times, or whatever, don’t I? In August 1983 I was coming to the end of my second tour at Binbrook and my last in the RAF.
Over the years, during the annual positioning transit of the aeros display Lightning from Binbrook to Tees-side for their air show, it had become the practice to carry out an informal aerobatic display at Scarborough en route to support some kind of activity (RAF Recruiting?) on the sea-front. In 1983, however, the hard word had gone out about such activities and all such things had to be authorised by Group. Permission was duly sought (good cause, after all, and a precedent), but it was refused. Poor Mike, who was the Lightning display pilot that year, got very angry about the refusal and argued unsuccessfully for hours on the phone to have the decision reversed, to no avail.
He took off in an angry mood, and only the Lord knows what went through Mike’s mind en-route, but descend into Scarborough Bay Mike did, and at some stage of the routine he overcooked it with the result that we all know. Even if that had not happened, Mike was headed for a lot of trouble. R.I.P. Mike Thompson, who tried to please his public at whatever cost to himself.
The lesson from all this is: if you have a choice, never fly when you are angry. If you have to fly when you are angry, be aware that your performance will drop off dramatically and so be extremely careful. “Don’t Assume, Check” and “Keep It Simple” are the ways to survive in a single seat, and in today’s CRM environment telling your fellow crew to watch you like a hawk, and why, may be a very good idea.
If you have an instrument flying computer package at home, one that measures your performance, try it when you are steamed after a row with somebody. Or after a drink, when you are convinced that you are firing on all cylinders! The results will shock you. It is sad to see these lessons played out in real life and real death, but Mike wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last. Unhappily, in this as in so many other areas of aviation, there are those that have and those that will.