I remember the aftermath of one accident. When the BoI report was published, pinpointing an unairworthy system as a contributory factor;
1. DEC order a separate investigation into who approved the fit of the offending system and why.
2. IPT staff lie to the investigator, naming a civilian programme manager as the guilty party, claiming they know nothing of (a) the system fitted to their aircraft despite it being the subject of a Service Deviation in their RTS, or (b) the staff in their IPT who had approved its use without first testing or trailling it.
3. When written and photographic evidence clears the programme manager and proves the IPT staff have lied to an official investigation, the investigation is stopped on the grounds that the “guilty” party is too senior to be pursued. The staff who lied to or withheld evidence from the investigation are praised and advanced.
4. None of the above is revealed to the BoI or Coroner, except by the programme manager who is not called as a witness.
5. MoD continues to this day to name and blame the civilian programme manager in correspondence with families, denying the aircraft in the photographic evidence is the aircraft type in question. (Yes, really! Photographs taken from 50 feet away and tail number clearly visible).
6. At the inquest MoD witnesses lie and mislead, refusing to provide evidence to the Coroner. Their successors continue in this vein.
7. Subsequent questions in Parliament force the IPT to admit they knew of this system going back to the 1980s, yet the previous lies are still condoned and repeated.
8. When they ask for the BoI to be reconvened to hear the above, the BoI President offers to help families expose the truth. When told the truth, he withdraws; possibly because the evidence proves the RTS does not reflect the crashed aircraft, but a different, older Mark.
An example that will ring bells with those interested in, for example, the Chinook Mull of Kintyre crash, where MoD knowingly blamed the wrong people, withheld evidence and lied to inquiries. And the aircraft had an invalid RTS.
And still you say the above is acceptable behaviour ......... Follow the lies because that is where the truth can be found. Alone, the offending system may not have caused the accident, but a behavioural trend like this tells you something is making MoD very nervous. Why else do they lie?
RIP….
Lt Philip Green, RN
Lt Antony King, RN
Lt Marc Lawrence, RN
Lt Philip West, RN
Lt James Williams, RN
Lt Andrew Wilson, RN
Lt Thomas Adams, USN
Died 22nd March 2003