Engines, thank you for yet another excellent post. It confirms yet again that the ACO Gliders, and the Hawk Mk 10 ejection seat, together with airworthiness related fatal air accidents involving the Chinook Mk2, the Nimrod Mk2, the Sea King ASaC Mk7, the Hercules "K model", and the Tornado GR4, all share with the MAA itself the dubious distinction of being victims of the aftermath of an AMSO 1987 policy decision that led directly to "savings at the expense of safety".
That policy has cost this country dear, in blood, treasure, and capability. The least of that cost is the grounding of the ACO fleet. That is not to understate that particular cost in any way. It will manifest itself for decades to come I have no doubt. What is scarcely mentioned though is that list of aircraft and systems above is merely what is in the public domain, due mainly to airworthiness related accidents and subsequent inquiries and reports. They are but the tip of an iceberg upon which UK Military Aviation has foundered. In most other regimes something effective would have been done by now, no doubt surreptitiously, in order to assure national security. This regime though is different, whereby national security must take second place to a higher consideration, that of the reputations of RAF VSOs!
That is the real scandal, a cover-up involving succeeding generations of RAF VSOs that has prevented proper reform of what is now a terminally dysfunctional system. The only way that reform can happen is to free both Regulator and Investigator from the MOD and from each other. Then at last the MAA can begin to get its own house in order, reject the lies of Haddon-Cave, relearn the arcane art of airworthiness provision and maintenance, and then implement that into the UK military airfleet. In the course of which it would be monitored by a renewed and independent MilAAIB so that it can be found wanting as a regulator when airworthiness accidents occur (as they inevitably will of course).
The obstacle to all this is the MOD. It has to be overcome, or the outlook for the UK Air Forces is nothing short of bleak.