BREAKING THE MILITARY COVENANT

'Why British Servicemen Are Dying Unnecessarily' is the sub-title of this important book which asks the question, 'Who speaks for the dead? David Hill's noble aim is to prevent a recurrence of avoidable fatal accidents and ensure natural justice. The root causes of most accidents are usually deficiencies in systems whether management, design, certification, maintenance and/or operation. Second, those responsible find the most convenient approach is to blame the individuals at the coalface, commonly the pilots such as at the RAF Chinook ZD576 at the Mull of Kintyre. David Hill revealed perhaps the greatest breach of the Military Covenant - the aircraft was not airworthy, and this was concealed from the aircrew and passengers. In this way, his new book is a follow up and he cites a number of test cases, not all aviation related, to over 100 avoidable deaths of our servicemen. Savings at the expense of safety have killed too many and this book looks at the avoidable fatalities that occurred between 1987 and 2006, all linked by maladministration. They include the Sea King ASaC Mk7, the Tornado ZG710/Patriot shootdown, Snatch Land Rovers, the Kajaki Dam minefield incident, and Nimrod XV230. Evidence concealed from inquiries and families is revealed for the first time. With the active participation of government, this cover-up protected the guilty. Instead, innocent people were named and shamed. Other examples are HMS Ark Royal Radar Plot of Collision Tracks, a there is a map of the Helmand Province, and a general view of Scissor and Drogue Shackle arrangement among the 12 illustrations. 288pp, large softback.