OAP, precisely! The reason why the events of 30+ years ago (tff!) are so important is that a decision was made at the highest level to subvert Air Safety for short term gain. As a result those with airworthiness delegation were ordered to suborn the regs, and thus be personally compromised thereafter, or to go. The regs themselves were progressively scrapped so that those inexperienced and untrained people who replaced those that were gone had no means of implementing the regs even if they wished to. Hence Mk10 seats lacked a Safety Case, IFFs lacked failure warnings, grossly unairworthy aircraft were illegally Released to Service, and many people died.
So that was then and now is now, but the system still remains broken as tuc states, the MAA is using unrealistic Regs, as DV states, and people go on dying!
TFF, if those of today are hurt by these home truths I am truly sorry, but hurt feelings are secondary to avoidable deaths. No-one is blaming those who produced this SI. They were deceived by omission and commission, just as have been Coroners, Sheriffs, Ministers, and Parliament.
It is I that said that it was nobbled and I stand by that, because every SI is nobbled before a Board is even convened let alone deliberating. As tuc says, the system is failed, the system is partial, the system is dysfunctional. It should be saving lives, it is saving backsides instead.
Unless and until the MAAIB is free of the MAA and MOD, SIs will continue to be nobbled. That is the bitter truth, unpalatable though it be.