F15 Court Martial (Merged thread)
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: The Road to Nowhere
Posts: 1,023
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yet Another Message of Congrats
Spot and Sue
Great news at last!!!!!!! But what a wait?
Heartiest congratulations on an outcome that all controllers have known would be the correct one. I can tell you that even we Fighter Controllers have been astonished that it has taken so long to clear your name. I only hope you and your family can now find the strength to carry on. Fancy a change of Specialisation??
Thought not ... but it was worth a try!
Best wishes from friends at Neatishead!!!
Great news at last!!!!!!! But what a wait?
Heartiest congratulations on an outcome that all controllers have known would be the correct one. I can tell you that even we Fighter Controllers have been astonished that it has taken so long to clear your name. I only hope you and your family can now find the strength to carry on. Fancy a change of Specialisation??
Thought not ... but it was worth a try!
Best wishes from friends at Neatishead!!!
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Doon Sooth, UK
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Spot & Sue
Heartiest Congrats. I'm delighted that your ordeal is over. At the moment I'm toasting you with a fine Highland Malt.
Well done to the Defence team - a job well done!
Many thanks to all involved in keeping us updated with the proceedings.
As for GATCO - What can I Say? It must have been destiny when I Joined in the late 60s at Ulster Radar - I thought I was signing a Mess chitty!
Taps
Heartiest Congrats. I'm delighted that your ordeal is over. At the moment I'm toasting you with a fine Highland Malt.
Well done to the Defence team - a job well done!
Many thanks to all involved in keeping us updated with the proceedings.
As for GATCO - What can I Say? It must have been destiny when I Joined in the late 60s at Ulster Radar - I thought I was signing a Mess chitty!
Taps
Never had the pleasure of meeting you Spot, but wish to express my relief for you that this mare is over. Hope the future holds happier times ahead for you and yours.
Have a large one!!!,
LXGB.
Have a large one!!!,
LXGB.
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Shawbury
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fantastic News!!
Awesome! It's been painful enough as an outsider over the Boards drawn out decisions, I can't begin to imagine what the atmosphere in Helensborough must have been like.
Still, I imagine you've already started, but you best get some practice in raising those alcohol tolerance levels, Spot, 'cos the number of people who want to buy you beer at the Shawbury 5's is daft. That goes to DD/MD/ and the whole support team too!!
I shall put down the PVR papers and go to the bar!!
All the best,
An augmentee in Brandy Sour Land.
Still, I imagine you've already started, but you best get some practice in raising those alcohol tolerance levels, Spot, 'cos the number of people who want to buy you beer at the Shawbury 5's is daft. That goes to DD/MD/ and the whole support team too!!
I shall put down the PVR papers and go to the bar!!
All the best,
An augmentee in Brandy Sour Land.
Alba Gu Brath
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Merseyside
Age: 55
Posts: 738
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
About bl@@dy time. The people responsible for dragging the name of a very fine ATCO through the mud should hang their heads in shame.
Heartfelt best wishes to Spot & Sue. Hopefully they can now put this dreadful experience behind them.
I take my hat off to all who have contributed their support during this episode. It has reinforced my belief in my fellow men (and women) that there are people out there who will go to such lengths to help a friend in need. You should all be proud of yourselves, and you have earned a very large shot of Scotlands finest from every air trafficker in the civilized world.
Heartfelt best wishes to Spot & Sue. Hopefully they can now put this dreadful experience behind them.
I take my hat off to all who have contributed their support during this episode. It has reinforced my belief in my fellow men (and women) that there are people out there who will go to such lengths to help a friend in need. You should all be proud of yourselves, and you have earned a very large shot of Scotlands finest from every air trafficker in the civilized world.
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Scotland
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Congratulations
Congratulations to ALL THE TEAM who have worked so very hard to help Spot and Sue through the past traumatic months - I am a "civvy" with a military interest and have found all your reports to be informative and very helpful through out this CM - our sympathies still go to the families of the USAF crews who were tragically lost.
Spot and Sue - you've stood up well to all of this and our thoughts have been with you all the way - you have held your heads up high and we are justly proud of you both
Love and very best wishes
Gill x x x
and all at Squadron Prints
Spot and Sue - you've stood up well to all of this and our thoughts have been with you all the way - you have held your heads up high and we are justly proud of you both
Love and very best wishes
Gill x x x
and all at Squadron Prints
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: balmullo,fife
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
spot and sue
i have just read the fantstic news about b***** time well done to your team in and out of court and to dd et al for the excellent up dates. let us hope the upper echelons of the organisation have learned a salutary lesson from these proceedings
good health and good cheer see you at a bar neer us
tacwo
i have just read the fantstic news about b***** time well done to your team in and out of court and to dd et al for the excellent up dates. let us hope the upper echelons of the organisation have learned a salutary lesson from these proceedings
good health and good cheer see you at a bar neer us
tacwo
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Shrewsbury
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
HALLELUJAH
Spot
Another voice amongst the many to pass on regards and happiness at the news. Like them, I will be availling myself of a few pints of scrutocks old dirigable to drink your health and the good news.
Headache booked and approved.
Porge
Another voice amongst the many to pass on regards and happiness at the news. Like them, I will be availling myself of a few pints of scrutocks old dirigable to drink your health and the good news.
Headache booked and approved.
Porge
Really excellent news. Best wishes to Spot and Sue and many thanks to the excellent daily updates from Mickey and Dick. It was evident from the updates what the outcome would be, but you can never be sure until the end.
If Spot's short of the readies, he could always sell the story to John Grisham as the basis of a new book. It was just as spellbinding as any of his.
If Spot's short of the readies, he could always sell the story to John Grisham as the basis of a new book. It was just as spellbinding as any of his.
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
CONGRATULATIONS
I am so happy that at last your good name has been cleared. I will have a large one, along with the rest of the people on this forum, for you.
I hope that GATCO get their request for an inquiry and that the culprits for this travsity are held accountable in some way.
My very best wishes to you and your family and good luck with whatever you decide to do in the future.
I hope that GATCO get their request for an inquiry and that the culprits for this travsity are held accountable in some way.
My very best wishes to you and your family and good luck with whatever you decide to do in the future.
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Luxembourg
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Absolutely wonderful news!!!!!
The very least the RAF should now do is to accept the full defence costs, and give immediate promotion to Sqd. Ldr. with seniority and pay backdated for two years and to appoint Spot to a post in which he is put in charge of updating RIS ans RAS procedures to ensure that no one else ever loses their lives as a result of misunderstanding of responsibilities for ground avoidance. Nothing will ever bring back the lives of the two pilots and my sympathies are with their families. I'll have a dram or two or three tonight.
All the best for your future Spot & Sue.
OJJ
The very least the RAF should now do is to accept the full defence costs, and give immediate promotion to Sqd. Ldr. with seniority and pay backdated for two years and to appoint Spot to a post in which he is put in charge of updating RIS ans RAS procedures to ensure that no one else ever loses their lives as a result of misunderstanding of responsibilities for ground avoidance. Nothing will ever bring back the lives of the two pilots and my sympathies are with their families. I'll have a dram or two or three tonight.
All the best for your future Spot & Sue.
OJJ
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 359
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RAF Debacle
I'm so Happy for you Spot and your family!
Im not sure that congratulations is the right sentiment - more like a huge sigh of relief!
I really do hope you can put this ordeal behind you - but I bet you'll never forget it.
All the best
Vectorline
CATC course108
Im not sure that congratulations is the right sentiment - more like a huge sigh of relief!
I really do hope you can put this ordeal behind you - but I bet you'll never forget it.
All the best
Vectorline
CATC course108
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Congratulations Spot
I know you won't remember me but I knew you briefly during the time you were at CATC a few years ago. You always struck me as a sensible, level-headed sort of bloke and I was shocked to see you implicated in the loss of the F15s. Please accept my heartfelt best wishes for the future now that this ridiculous ordeal is over.
This is a great day for you, your family, your defence team and all ATCOs in the UK. We should all be thankful that there are people in aviation willing to give up their time and put massive efforts into helping others. My faith in the legal profession has also been renewed. I think a final thank you is due to GATCO for their support - I'm glad I'm a member.
regards
Granny
I know you won't remember me but I knew you briefly during the time you were at CATC a few years ago. You always struck me as a sensible, level-headed sort of bloke and I was shocked to see you implicated in the loss of the F15s. Please accept my heartfelt best wishes for the future now that this ridiculous ordeal is over.
This is a great day for you, your family, your defence team and all ATCOs in the UK. We should all be thankful that there are people in aviation willing to give up their time and put massive efforts into helping others. My faith in the legal profession has also been renewed. I think a final thank you is due to GATCO for their support - I'm glad I'm a member.
regards
Granny
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cupar,Fife
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Spot... I never new what to say to you in the days since the incident.....But I do now.....CONGRATULATIONS. Drink well and Sleep well.
And on the seventh day God created...............JUSTICE.
And on the seventh day God created...............JUSTICE.
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: UK
Age: 46
Posts: 642
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dear Spot
I have been jumping about the house in a fit of joy for about 30 minutes now, on my second beer already! Hearing your news has brought a bigger smile to my face then getting passes in all my ATPL exams earlier in the month (my mothers words).
My heartiest congratulations on the outcome of todays CM. You deserve nothing less. May you and Sue now take your lives forward, I wish you the very best for whatever path you choose to take. As us RN and ex RN like me say "hoist flag Bravo Zulu" (well done). HURRAH.
To Mike Jones QC I offer you a very warm handshake. You are a truly outstanding man. BZ also. And to everyone else who has supported Spot.
Earlier on this thread I said that when all was done here I would post "a piece of my mind". I am sure many feel they cant, but I am no longer in the military, and I feel it right I should.
Senior Officers of the RAF - sit down, read this and hoist it in. It is a one way transmission:
Any one of you could of stopped this CM from going ahead. It was not in the interests of anybody. But you did not. Any why? I dare say because you did not have the balls to stand up and say a mistake has been made. The level of courage required to do that is way below that currently expected of those men and women under your command who will no doubt be shortly engaged in war over Iraq.
At the very least you seriously damaged the morale of the ATC branch of the RAF and destroyed confidence in the chain of command throughout the service. Shame on you. You have let yourselves down, Flt Lt Williams down and the RAF, which operates in the name of Her Majesty The Queen.
As for the worst, well where do we start? The inquiry requested by the Guild of ATCO's speaks volumes, as does the JA decision that all Spots costs are to be met by the crown.
May you sleep unsoundly forever with the knowledge of the suffering that you have caused a fine Officer and his family.
End of transmission.
Finally let us not forget two men died on that tragic day. Let our final thoughts be with them.
God bless Spot
God bless Lt Col Kenneth Hyvonen and Captain Kirk Jones.
I have been jumping about the house in a fit of joy for about 30 minutes now, on my second beer already! Hearing your news has brought a bigger smile to my face then getting passes in all my ATPL exams earlier in the month (my mothers words).
My heartiest congratulations on the outcome of todays CM. You deserve nothing less. May you and Sue now take your lives forward, I wish you the very best for whatever path you choose to take. As us RN and ex RN like me say "hoist flag Bravo Zulu" (well done). HURRAH.
To Mike Jones QC I offer you a very warm handshake. You are a truly outstanding man. BZ also. And to everyone else who has supported Spot.
Earlier on this thread I said that when all was done here I would post "a piece of my mind". I am sure many feel they cant, but I am no longer in the military, and I feel it right I should.
Senior Officers of the RAF - sit down, read this and hoist it in. It is a one way transmission:
Any one of you could of stopped this CM from going ahead. It was not in the interests of anybody. But you did not. Any why? I dare say because you did not have the balls to stand up and say a mistake has been made. The level of courage required to do that is way below that currently expected of those men and women under your command who will no doubt be shortly engaged in war over Iraq.
At the very least you seriously damaged the morale of the ATC branch of the RAF and destroyed confidence in the chain of command throughout the service. Shame on you. You have let yourselves down, Flt Lt Williams down and the RAF, which operates in the name of Her Majesty The Queen.
As for the worst, well where do we start? The inquiry requested by the Guild of ATCO's speaks volumes, as does the JA decision that all Spots costs are to be met by the crown.
May you sleep unsoundly forever with the knowledge of the suffering that you have caused a fine Officer and his family.
End of transmission.
Finally let us not forget two men died on that tragic day. Let our final thoughts be with them.
God bless Spot
God bless Lt Col Kenneth Hyvonen and Captain Kirk Jones.
Last edited by timzsta; 25th Feb 2003 at 15:40.
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Fort Worth ARTCC ZFW
Posts: 1,155
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Can't add anything to what everyone else has said here. But it is GREAT to see the justice was carried out in the military and no scape dog was found....
All the best to you and your family Spot...
From an Icy place in Texas.
Scott
All the best to you and your family Spot...
From an Icy place in Texas.
Scott
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Stunning
Spot & Sue
Stunningly marvellous news. What else can I say? At least there is some vestige of justice left in the world. Now you can take a dep breath of spring air and move on with your lives.
To the bar.....
SM
Stunningly marvellous news. What else can I say? At least there is some vestige of justice left in the world. Now you can take a dep breath of spring air and move on with your lives.
To the bar.....
SM
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fantastic
Ditto all of the above.
Justice has been (eventually) done.
Congrats and thanks to all the Teams, it is now time to go and drink the bar dry!!!
The final thought goes to the familys of the pilots.
Justice has been (eventually) done.
Congrats and thanks to all the Teams, it is now time to go and drink the bar dry!!!
The final thought goes to the familys of the pilots.