Call me a cynic but from what I read in the press the conclusions being drawn are that Flt Lt Cunningham f**ked up FOUR DAYS previously, in how he strapped in/unstrapped/safed the seat.
19 separate entries into the cockpit "missed" the unsafe seat.
Flt Lt Cunningham then missed it again on strapping back in and after pulling the pin he sat back and the seat fired.
I call bollocks on this, I am detecting a strong whiff of someone being scapegoated to save face of VSO, once again.
20 separate people do not miss the fundamental safety checks on seats....
Back when I learnt about seats as a humble liney I, like everybody else was taught that you are climbing on a bomb, one that wants to fire, one that wants to kill you and will do so if you do not give it 100% respect for every single second you are working near it.
when I had my backseat trip - the scariest part for me was removing that seat pan pin when the pilot commanded me to.
I do not believe Flt Lt Cunningham f**ked up - besides, whatever caused the seat to fire - the fact it malfunctioned which led directly to his untimely death needs to be fully investigated and made sure will never happen again.
this process needs to leave no stone unturned. Sadly it looks to me like the ole VSO wagon circling and MOD intransigence (sp) will win.
Again
