15th Years on: Chinook ZD576 2 June 1994.

Discussion in 'Postwar' started by geoff501, Jun 8, 2009.

  1. geoff501

    geoff501 Achtung Feind hört mit

  2. kfz

    kfz Very Senior Member

    It would make a lot of sense to me, spending a lot of time testing software its amazing how little people understand about testing software. I dont know how the RAf approach it. Mechanical (hardware) faults are sometimes a lot easier to find and fix.

    Kev
     
  3. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Wasn't one of the Pilots father EX RAF and has always stated that there has been a cover-up.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  4. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I believe so Tom-I think he may have been of a resonably high rank too Sqn Leader or Grp Captain?

    To be fair the whole Chinnock thing has been a fiasco for the MOD and RAF. They purchased quite a few without dated software a few years ago and they were grounded for years and millions more had to be spent to get them in the air.

    A case of Pidgeons leading Eagles I'm affraid.
    Chinook Helicopters Afghanistan Mission Cancelled | UK News | Sky News

    All the time they were deciding what to do troops were suffering in Afghanistan and Iraq- The Chinook being the principle Casi-Vac Helicopter for British Forces.
     
  5. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Andy,

    It doesn't seem too long ago that I was informed that they were still awaiting modifications.

    Talk about total incompetence. At the end of the day millons of pounds of our tax payers money has been wasted and could well have been put to a more appropriate use.

    It would appear that no one is held accountable these days, or if they are it matters not!

    Regards
    Tom
     
  6. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Couldn't agree with you more Tom,

    Breaks my heart Tom when I hear of chaps putting there lives on the line and when the wheel falls off the cart they get a message over the radio like 'Sorry you have no air-goodluck'.

    No wonder why the British Forces are the best in the world at improvisation.

    Regards
    Andy
     
  7. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    ‘Irresponsibility’
    Leigh said the defense ministry’s track record in making the Chinook Mk3 helicopters airworthy had been “one of bad decision-making to the point of irresponsibility” and “hamstrung from the start” by the failure to secure access to the aircraft’s secure software code.
    That meant the U.K. could not show that the cheaper, modified cockpit avionics it chose met British airworthiness standards and therefore that the helicopters were safe to fly.
    The Ministry of Defense said problems with the Chinook Mk3 procurement program are well-known and that the committee’s report contains “nothing new” beyond the three others it has compiled on the Chinook in years past.
    “This was a very bad case, and I entirely accept the criticism,” said Quentin Davies, a Labour minister in charge of defense equipment and support. “The contract was signed in 1997. Since then we have fundamentally changed our methods of doing business, but this episode will remain a salutary example to us all.”

    Quote from:-

    U.K. Chinook Crashes Linked to Night Flight Kit, Lawmakers Say - Bloomberg.com


    Regards
    Tom
     

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