Thanks, Yellow Sun. Yes, those two must go into the mix.
So the story so far goes: In the beginning, the RAF was able to investigate its own accidents and would make its own decision about whether it was required to initiate an RAFP or a CivPol investigation. The first major change came with loss of Crown Immunity, when it became necessary to have sufficiently robust answers to civilian legal challenges.
As the RAF shrank (and flew more safely) accidents became less frequent but more significant, as they attracted more public attention. That prompted a loosening of the restrictions on publicising BoI reports.
In very recent years (since 2007?) the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter etc...Act, plus dissatisfaction with the Chinook MoK investigation shifted the primacy in investigation to the only alternative investigative body - the police.
That looks OK, but possibly a bit simplistic. I can now use that to ponder what I think about it. Thank you TS, flipster, walter k and YS.
The rest of you can go on adding the embellishments if you wish and I'll just watch.
Last edited by keithl; 10th Jul 2012 at 20:22.