tuc, as usual, makes the point better than I. The MAA as guardian of UK Military Airworthiness Provision needs to see what perhaps individual SI's might fail to, the correlation between all these fatal airworthiness linked accidents leading way back into Haddon Cave's 'Golden Period'. It doesn't do that of course because its very purpose, the reason that it exists, is to ensure that correlation never happens. It is greatly assisted in that by the fortuitous arrangement whereby all SI's are carried out under its auspices by its subsidiary, the MilAAIB.
This SI has indeed found out the technical problems with this seat that killed Sean Cunningham. Job done? No, because those problems were already known of by the RAF and the Seat Manufacturer respectively, yet the UK Military Airworthiness Authority claims to have had no knowledge of the latter whatsoever. Really? Why was that? It was the subject of urgent promulgation by MB, yet its major customer professes to have never been informed. That is where any Air Accident Investigator worth its salt would home in on and uncover the whole rotten mess that is UK Military Airworthiness. Does the MilAAIB do so? No, because this SI just went through the motions, like most other UK Military Air Accident Investigations.
The MilAAIB might well sit within the MAA for they are well suited to each other, the words chocolate fireguards come to mind. This is a tragedy of enormous proportions for UK Military Aviation. It has to be put right lest many more needless deaths are to follow.
Last edited by Chugalug2; 28th Feb 2014 at 08:55.