Random Bloke and Skeleton, it is of course very sad that the Pilot flying the Tutor when it collided with a glider in busy airspace had been flying with a condition known as Ankylosing Spondylitis. If you care to read up on this condition, you would be horrified and astonished that he may have been permitted to fly children, and it was a mistake by the authorising medics that he was permitted to fly at all. It is your duty and indeed anyone who is aware that a pilot to your knowlege is not physically fit to fly passengers, to express your concern to the person in charge. If you neglect to do this and an accident happens, you must share the blame. That is why this must concern all of us. It is not to be forgotten or swept under the rug.
There were two reports on this incident, one by the RAF, one by the AAIB. I have read both of them long ago, and the lessons that officialdom MUST LEARN is not to repeat these mistakes. The people supervising any program that flies children must take care that instructors are fit and of good character.
If you have indeed read both of these reports, you will realise that the pilot's colleagues should certainly have flagged up his condition; no way they would not have been aware. It is your friends who first begin to notice you are starting to loose it. Officialdom is the last to find out.
And flying in airspace that is very very busy on a good soaring day, and performing aerobatics in such airspace, is unwise to say the least.
Why was not airspace over say Brize Norton or Benson made available to the Tutor?
In any event, it is unnecessary to throw kids around the sky to give them a taste of flight. Just letting them have a go on the controls is enough of a thrill. Aerobatics should be saved for later, or at least reserved for consenting adults.