Not surprised to see so much chatter in the press re: Shoreham, As for the Cartridge issue, Principle here has always been one of Ronson, First time, Every time, and that’s what governs the expiry dates, That they will or in many cases will not go off when required at much later dates is immaterial to the principle and any responsible operator will not only bin them before there sell by date, but rightly expect to be spit roasted if any accident later happens and can be attributed even in part to that factor.

In this case only the ‘Pilot’ can give witness to what actually happened in those final seconds, and all should wait until that information is made fully available before speculation and hysteria take hold of those just looking for something to dance around the fire too.

However this and similar threads beg another question no one really wants to ask. Yearly we witness the usual toll of older air frames arriving on the ground in an unintended fashion, and each time there is the same ”soul searching” discussions taking place, I say that with tongue in cheek as in the end unless this activity is utterly banned it will keep happening, Those of us that have frequented these forums for years have seen this over and again, Plane comes down and the Lynch mob mounts up rope in hand riding around aimlessly, in there view someone will swing for this and often enough it is the wrong person or more importantly for the wrong reasons.

Returning to the Cartridge matter, The real problem here in my view is in the control of this vital part overall, ‘There is no Civil equivalent of an armourer’. as previously mentioned, and there you have it in one sentence. Until the CAA/FAA or who ever is in overall control ensure that this situation is rectified by placing this aspect under some sort of civil authority rather than the current ad-hoc methods this one will keep surfacing, and as we see time and again blind the public and the industry to the real issues that need to be addressed.

We saw it in SA a few years ago, yet again at Shoreham, None of these incidents was caused by out of date cartridges, but that information was waved high by the uninformed, Yet it was indicative of a much deeper and far more insidious problem in the operation of aircraft particularly complex ex military air frames in private (Public). hands, jet powered or otherwise, That of independent oversight, Yes I accept the CAA in this case has overall oversight of the operation and the operators but not at the day to day level and even the most dedicated operator can and will miss things either by mistake or simply through daily pressures to preform, If the situation was enacted were this all relied on secondary inspection by an independent third party divorced from the operational side of the air frame in all respects a lot of what happens would simply end up with the aircraft unable to fly until compliance was met, A kind of daily PtF endorsement, it’s either right or get your coat and come back when it is sort of thing, Yes it would add to operating costs overall but better that than what we see happen far to often.

In the end as with all accidents the report will reveal the overall ‘Official’ determination of the cause, recommendations will be made and changes enacted. Insurance premiums will soar and air show operators will alter there methods but will this stop another of these horrific incidents, Doubtful it will, not until those involved change the way they look at things drastically, fully accept there responsibilities and alter the way they operate, Acceptable Risk is not something we need to hear if we wish to continue see these aircraft displayed were they belong.