Charges
NoD asks for a resume of the charges; I did summarise them a little while ago and it's difficult to expand on what has gone before without going over old ground.
Perhaps if I write exactly what appears in the charge sheet then make a comment or two. The charge sheet has been made available to members of the press and public.
Charge 1 & 3 (One for each pilot, Lt Col Hyvonen and Capt Jones):
Doing an act in relation to aircraft causing the loss of life to a person contrary to Section 49 of the Airforce Act 1955, in that he, at Royal Air Force Leuchars on the 26th day of March 2001 when on duty as an air traffic controller providing a radar information service and in radio communication with Lt Col Hyvonen USAF, the lead pilot of a formation of two F15C aircraft, having been requested to provide a descent to RAF Leuchars' minimum vectoring altitude, it being his duty, as the aircraft were outside RAF Leuchars' radar vector chart, not to descend the piolt below 6500 ft, said to the Lt Col to descend to 4000ft, which act caused the loss of life of the said Lt Col.
Also a 2nd charge of: Negligently performing a duty contrary to Section 29 A (b) of the Airforce Act 1955 in that he .....etc .
Appreciating that summarising can over-simplify matters, you may be wise to go back to some of the previous and carefully drafted comments for a full explanation. However, in essence, the Prosecution believe there is a direct link between what Spot said and the death of the 2 aircrew; the Defence believe not, as that direct link was broken when they went visual and proceeded low-level. Despite being in the charge sheet, there is also the question of the "minimum vectoring altitude" which is not a Royal Air Force term but is used by USAF crews. Finally, reference is made in the charge sheet to the "radar vector chart"; as you are well aware, this is designed for arriving aircraft to, in this case, RAF Leuchars - it is therefore based on QFE; it is not designed for use by departures or transit aircraft.
It's a pity that before they decided to go low level, the pilots hadn't said as much to Spot; this may tie in with their speedy disappearance from radar, in that they rapidly went out of radio coverage due to terrain as they descended (at 5000 ft per minute).
Concerning the transcripts, only brief and selective mention has been made to small portions of the tape transcript, the odd phrase here and there. To mention what has been commented on so far would appear disjointed and meaningless; the tape transcripts are not yet in the public domain and the R/T recording has yet to be played, although that is expected next week.
The middle charge of negligence is, despite being a lesser charge, much more difficult to defend. If you don't mind, I'll not say any more on the subject as I've no wish to give the other side any clues, suffice to say that there are one or two ideas being carefully considered.
Hope that helps.