Court Martial over F15 crash
Join Date: May 2002
Location: france46
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Madam ATCO
There is nothing sinister in the BOI not being complete.
If, during the investigation of an aircraft accident which resulted in fatalities, it is deemed possible by the BOI that the actions (or inactions) of a person involved in the events ( and who was not amongst the fatalities) were a primary cause of the accident the BOI would automatically be suspended and a Summary of Evidence would be instituted.
The Summary of Evidence would be submitted to the AOC in C who, if he considered the evidence warrented it, would submit the findings to DLS.
If DLS ruled that there was a case to be answered then a Court Martial would follow. The BOI would not be completed until the Legal Proceedings had reached their conclusion.
Any Lawyer should be able to tie DLS in knots.
There is nothing sinister in the BOI not being complete.
If, during the investigation of an aircraft accident which resulted in fatalities, it is deemed possible by the BOI that the actions (or inactions) of a person involved in the events ( and who was not amongst the fatalities) were a primary cause of the accident the BOI would automatically be suspended and a Summary of Evidence would be instituted.
The Summary of Evidence would be submitted to the AOC in C who, if he considered the evidence warrented it, would submit the findings to DLS.
If DLS ruled that there was a case to be answered then a Court Martial would follow. The BOI would not be completed until the Legal Proceedings had reached their conclusion.
Any Lawyer should be able to tie DLS in knots.
Kilo 52 you state that any lawyer should be able to tie DLS up in knots - from the daily reports of the F15 CM, it looks as though the defence team may well be getting the better of DLS. But how many of you out there could afford the fight?
As I stated earlier, the defence costs were approx £65k, a full four months before the start date (in fact it turned out to be 5-5.5 months following further DLS delays). The controller involved has had approx £50K from the Guild of Air Traffic Controllers but he will have to spend up to £75k of his own money before he qualifies for any additional help with fees.
Bearing in mind the technical nature of aviation (both from the aircrew and ATC persprectives) and the resultant increase in costs of providing suitably qualified expert witnesses to support/rebut any arguments, how many would have to throw the towel in, irrespective of the merits of their case, before achieving a conclusion to the proceedings.
Would you happy to have to leave your fate to a service provided defence team because of a lack of funds. After all, they will be defending you in front of a Board with a vested interest in the decision (after all they do work for, and were appointed by, the very people bringing the prosecution in the first place)? But that I suppose is a whole new argument on the very nature, relevance and legality of Courts Martial in the modern age!
It has gone too far when getting a fair hearing depends on your ability to pay.
As I stated earlier, the defence costs were approx £65k, a full four months before the start date (in fact it turned out to be 5-5.5 months following further DLS delays). The controller involved has had approx £50K from the Guild of Air Traffic Controllers but he will have to spend up to £75k of his own money before he qualifies for any additional help with fees.
Bearing in mind the technical nature of aviation (both from the aircrew and ATC persprectives) and the resultant increase in costs of providing suitably qualified expert witnesses to support/rebut any arguments, how many would have to throw the towel in, irrespective of the merits of their case, before achieving a conclusion to the proceedings.
Would you happy to have to leave your fate to a service provided defence team because of a lack of funds. After all, they will be defending you in front of a Board with a vested interest in the decision (after all they do work for, and were appointed by, the very people bringing the prosecution in the first place)? But that I suppose is a whole new argument on the very nature, relevance and legality of Courts Martial in the modern age!
It has gone too far when getting a fair hearing depends on your ability to pay.
