As those who know the Captain will no doubt agree, the verdict was never in any doubt.
I've known and flown with him since 1994, including on operational detachments. His integrity is totally unimpeachable and his professionalism is of the very highest order.
The reason why I have refused to sate the slavering trolls who have attempted to goad me for a response during the course of this Courts Martial, is that I did not wish to disclose the contents of messages exchanged with the Captain and others some 3 years ago - which I'd taken the precaution of printing off. When I first asked him what had happened, the Captain told me that the event had been terrifying to him; he had no idea what had caused it and was
"looking forward to an answer as to what happened". As an example of the way he acts towards others, he went on
"Have to say that my young cabin crew were amazing! I am very proud of them!".
Another PPRuNer, a senior officer, who knows the Captain well also told me
"I spoke to him about what happened, shortly after the incident, and I am pretty certain that he did not know that his camera was the cause. He mentioned that his camera had been damaged but he thought that had been caused by it flying around the cockpit."
Another told me that when the cause was eventually established, the Captain was totally devastated by the event.
The Voyager variant of the A330 has a considerable number of modifications over the baseline 'green' aircraft and it was hardly a state secret that early Voyagers had experienced a number of issues following modification to the wiring looms. Hence it wasn't beyond the bounds of possibility that some gremlin lurking deep within the system could have made its unwelcome appearance over the Black Sea that night and that a possible AFS event might have been the cause, despite the reliability of the A330 system.
Hearing that the Captain had been charged with perjury was, to anyone who knows him, astonishing. But as the Courts Martial has revealed, some of the alleged manner of the MAA inquiry was even more astonishing.
Although I offered to send copies of the messages to his defence team and to appear as a character witness if that would help, the Captain told me that the prosecution witnesses had been better defence witnesses than he could ever have hoped for. Which was very heartening.
The excellent post made by
Just This Once (27th Feb at 12:36) reinforces my own feelings. The startle involved when a boring night trudge across the airways turned into chaos cannot be underestimated; indeed the airlines are now beginning to realise the effect which startle plays during abnormal events.
The MoD statement reported on Forces News makes interesting reading:
"Our thoughts go out to all those on board the Voyager who were affected by what was a highly distressing experience. The MoD is grateful for the court's thorough consideration of the facts in this matter, lessons have been identified from this incident and training and procedures amended accordingly."
Lawyers acting for the injured passengers might well choose to pick up on the last sentence - specifically
which'training and procedures' have been amended and in what way? For the statement reads like an admission of training inadequacy.
Anyway, I'm very glad this whole thing is over and that the Captain has been cleared of the iniquitous charges levelled against him.
I will be raising a glass to you, Andy - as I hope will all others who know you and knew very well that you were telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth throughout this whole sad business.
As for that Sqn Ldr who threatened the pilots with physical harm - check the third drawer down!