Originally Posted by
vintage ATCO
I am not sure I agree with your first analogy. If a racing team said to their driver, 'take that car out, the brakes are no good but I am sure you can handle it' and the driver did so knowingly then isn't there case of negligence, perhaps criminal negligence? (I don't know what the difference is).
I am not suggesting that is the case here, just I don't think your analogy is a good one.
And I would not accept that airshows are inherently dangerous; the two Red Arrows are never head on.
I would imagine that when the pilot checked the paperwork (I believe historic jet ops mirror RAF processes - F700 equivalent) and also saw the aircraft had a valid Permit, not unreasonably, he believed it was to all intents and purposes airworthy. Short of dismantling the machine to check for himself, I’m not sure there would be a great deal else he could do to satisfy himself of the legality of the flight.