Originally Posted by
Chugalug2
I see that it is now over 10 years since I joined here as a PPRuNe member. I remember that what motivated me to do so was the Mull "hitting back" thread, calling for the RAF BoI review finding against the deceased pilots to be scrapped. It was simply a sense of injustice at that stage, it was only later that it emerged that there was in fact proven Gross Negligence, it had simply been by VSOs, rather than the JO pilots that were their scapegoats.
I have that same feeling of injustice at this sentence. This JO has been found Not Guilty of Perjury and Lying. He has pleaded guilty to negligently performing a duty (by allowing his camera to jam the control stick), but the sentence for that seems vindictive to me (just as it did for the Mull pilots).
I would add that many of the FJ comments posted here about Multi engine pilots are equally biased in my view. They seem to imply that military justice should be more severe for those who are negligent, the larger their aircraft and the more the occupants. The corollary of course is that those in small single or dual seaters should be treated more lightly in contrast. That was certainly the apparent attitude of the CinC Strike Command in his treatment of Chinook and Tornado accidents under his command. With all due respect I think that he was gravely in error, despite his lack of consistency being blamed on a certain Legal Services Sqn Ldr.
Malevolence and Vindictiveness is no way to run an Air Force, it requires leadership. There appears to be a great dearth of that these days.
But he's not a Junior Officer; as we've been told before, he's got 30+ years of experience as an Officer. Wasn't that the entire point of PAS to make sure experienced and capable pilots (who do safe things) exist to mentor their juniors, provide a Just Culture ethos etc etc.
And no, "grounding him" wasn't good enough: we're paying £++ to fly, that's the only reason he had a job in the RAF - taking his wage down by 2 increment points and then letting him sit on his arse doing nothing doesn't strike me as reasonable. It sounds like a reward frankly.