Sounds like the press blowing something completely out of proportion to me...
From what I saw on the news/read it was simply a hypothetical scenario- you have the option to save many thousands of lives by using your jet as a weapon (as you have no firepower left) but you'll die in the process kind of thing.
I think it is reasonable for those kind of scenarios to be discussed- the RAF have confirmed that no one would ever be ordered to do it.
I hope you are right. I am sure it is not the first time this sort of scenario has been discussed, what worries me is that it has been reported in the press. That sort of gives rise to the possibility that it might become looked upon as an acceptable practice. Mind you, with the cost of a jet and pilot training, it would be a massive investment...
more hype but I think what they are trying to do is cover their backsides early!!
If they are ever in the situation of having to ask a crew member to do such a thing, and it doesnt happen and all hell breaks loose, they have newspaper coverage to say they considerered it!
this was discussed right after 9/11 in the services so suprised the media are making such a big thing of it now. i doubt if any pilot faced with such a decision would hesitate to sacrifice themself in order to save lives, ultimately they join up to fight for their country. dying for it is an occupational hazard.
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more hype but I think what they are trying to do is cover their backsides early!!
If they are ever in the situation of having to ask a crew member to do such a thing, and it doesnt happen and all hell breaks loose, they have newspaper coverage to say they considerered it!
Its typical MOD stuff.
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Wouldn't say it was typical MoD stuff, or that they were trying to cover their backsides. I would say it's the Sun blowing it out of proportion and the telegraph picking it up and asking the MoD 'Were pilots asked this?' they can hardly say no.
It was a discussion in a training exercise, not a leaked document.
That is good, but all the same it is worrying that the subject ever came up. I suppose it was inevitable that it would be discussed, and suicide missions are nothing new...
I totally agree with all Blackhawk's sentiments!
Seems like I'll see most of Horse and hound on PPRUNE!!!! I shan't tell you my name on there though...Off to fly a suicide desk!lol!
I don't believe it is a new concept, just new circumstances - I am sure there were cases where during the WWs pilots essentially committed suicide, be it staying out fighting knowing they didn't have the fuel to get back, or steering their planes into other aircraft or objectives.
One of the accounts that made me feel physically sick was when I was told about an instructor throwing himself on a grenade to save the troops he was in charge of (the grenade had bounced back into the bunker they were throwing them from on a live fire exercise) That one would have been a literal split second decision, and it says a lot about the mindset of the instructor, and how a lot of soldiers are, that it wouldn't cross their mind to do otherwise.
This thought is something every pilot has to think about regardless if it is a 2 seater Cessna, 747-400 or RAF aircraft - lets say you are having an onboard fire, between you and the nearest runway is a town - do you risk the people on the ground, even if that is the safest option for you?
I think they are trigger happy anyway. All this business with British sailors being in Iranian/Iraqi waters - it is very very hard to delineate the sea, who is to say who is right? It could be a pure conincidence that this is just the excuse TB and GB need to put 'pressure' on Iran...