Reprieve for airman who sparked emergency

STAFFORDSHIRE pilot Flt Lt Andrew Townshend, whose actions sparked the emergency, has spoken of his regret – and the need for lessons to be learned.

He told the court martial that after the incident, he filled in a flight log, stating that he believed there had been an issue with the autopilot. “My honest belief was that it was some form of technical malfunction with the aircraft,” he said.

Before the drama, he had taken photos of the views, passing aircraft, the inside of the cockpit and the speed and altitude dials.

Townshend claimed the camera had fallen from a shelf.

The prosecution at his court martial argued the camera had been placed in front of an armrest, and became wedged against the joystick when he moved his seat. The aircraft had then pitched down as a result of his camera becoming stuck next to the flight stick.

“I was utterly devastated,” said Townshend. “It was quite possibly the worst day of my life as far as I was concerned, having considered myself a professional pilot for many years.

“I would absolutely want people to be aware there was a possibility of something like that happening again,” he added.

The court martial convicted Townshend of negligent performance of duty. He was given a suspended four-month jail term and was dismissed.

But last week, after a senior judge said the pilot had not been given sufficient reasons for his dismissal, it was overturned at the Court of Appeal. Lord Justice Holroyde said the court martial had not explained why thought necessary for shend to be sacked.

He said. “The injustice is that this heavy combination of penalties was imposed in circumstances where the reasoning leading to the conclusion has not been made explicit.”

The incident left a stain on a previously unblemished career.

Townshend was a pilot with more than 5,500 hours’ flight time when the February 2014 incident occurred.

He had flown many times with Flt Lt Jones and had served in the RAF for 30 years.

Pilots were allowed to have cameras in their cockpits and to take photos, but Townshend had done so when he was alone without a co-pilot.

The judge stressed the incident had a serious impact on it was Town- scores of personnel, and on the Ministry of Defence in general.

“The sudden dive caused a loss of gravity which resulted in both physical and psychological injuries amongst those who were on board,” he said.

Appealing against the “additional sanction” of dismissal on top of his suspended prison term, barrister John Price QC said it was too harsh.

Superior officers had made it clear Townshend was a wellrespected serviceman.

Allowing the appeal, Lord Justice Holroyde said dismissal was not automatic when a suspended sentence is imposed.

And, given the fact that the court martial did not make it clear why it thought both dismissal and a suspended term were appropriate, it could not stand.