No comment on the pilot. As some have said, his offence wouldn't warrant much attention in civvy street. Rightly, others point to expected standards and duty of care as a pilot.
But what I find truly bizarre are the contradictions between what MoD thinks illegal/punishable and what happens in "civvy street".
Most of the public would be outraged at what is condoned in MoD. In my career I came across senior officers and civilians condoning, or not seeking to punish in any way whatsoever, fraud (the obvious one), serial sexual assault on a minor (under 10 yo and with rape charges held on file because the minor wasn't well enough to give evidence), arson (on an MoD base), wheel man in a robbery, common assault, GBH and more. Every one of them progressed beyond the grade/rank they held at the time of the "offence". Some, mainly the fraudsters, occupy high office.
Ask any reasonable person to place them in order of seriousness and the snorting Sqn Ldr would be well down the list. I just like to see consistency.