The Times - 29 Jan:
A MILITARY air traffic controller appeared distraught and talked about the recent death of his father on the day that two American fighter pilots crashed on a Scottish mountain, a court martial heard yesterday.
Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Williams, 47, of RAF Leuchars in Fife, was “jumping from subject to subject” during his shift in which the pilots of the two F15C jets flew over the Cairngorms in a blizzard.
Flight Lieutenant Williams had returned to work at RAF Leuchars on March 26, 2001, after two weeks of compassionate leave following his father’s death.
He appeared before a military court in Helensburgh charged with causing the deaths of the two pilots and an alternative charge of negligently performing his duties. He pleaded not guilty.
It is alleged that he caused the accident by telling the two pilots to descend to 4,000ft when the minimum safety altitude in the area was 6,500ft.
Flying Officer Sophie Green, who was on duty on the day of the crash, told the court martial that Flight Lieutenant Williams had been feeling very upset. She said he had tapped her on the arm to follow him on to the balcony. “He was very worried and told me he thought that two aircraft may have crashed. He was worried that the two contacts with the aircraft had been quite strong, and they disappeared.
“He was feeling very upset. He was jumping about from subject to subject. He was worried about the aircraft, then he jumped to talking about his father and how close he was.” Flying Officer Green said they then went back inside and Flight Lieutenant Williams jotted down something on a piece of paper while she made him a cup of tea.
Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Hyvonen, 40, and Captain Kirk Jones, 27, had been training over Scotland when they were killed in the crash.
Flight Lieutenant Stewart Grady described Flight Lieutenant Williams as being very despondent when he returned to his desk after talking to Flying Officer Green. Flight Lieutenant Grady said: “We had a conversation in which he said in the times he had been controlling aircraft, this was the first time that he had a bad feeling about the aircraft he had been controlling.”
The court martial continues.