THE Prince of Wales will never again fly an aircraft of the Queen's
Flight following his disastrous crash-landing on Islay last year.
However, although Prince Charles was at the controls when the BAe 146
overshot the runway and ended up in boggy ground, the captain of the
aircraft was yesterday blamed for the accident and as a consequence can
no longer carry on as an instructor pilot.
The RAF had suggested to Buckingham Palace that the prince should
undergo intensive retraining, including simulator flights on a BAe 146.
The suggestion indicated a degree of criticism over the prince's
skills as a pilot of this particular aircraft.
The crash could have cost the lives of the prince and the 10 others on
board at the time.
Although he completed his wings course as a young man, Prince Charles,
a group captain in the RAF, had never undergone refresher courses.
His father, who at the age of 74 still regularly takes over controls
of royal aircraft, has always made a point of undergoing retraining
courses every six months.
The Prince of Wales has not flown an RAF aircraft since the accident.
Yesterday, as a Ministry of Defence report into the accident severely
criticised Squadron Leader Graham Laurie, captain of the crashed
aircraft, and his navigator for negligence, the prince made it known he
would no longer take the controls of a royal aircraft.
''It is entirely a personal decision,'' a spokesman for the prince at
St James's Palace said.
Senior RAF officials were at pains to make it clear that Squadron
Leader Laurie was not being made a scapegoat.
''Between you and me, he is very fortunate that he has been allowed to
remain a member of 32 Squadron (the Queen's Flight),'' a senior officer
said.
He had flown with the prince for seven years and he should have
developed a good enough rapport with him to take over control without
any problem, it was suggested.
Although the pilot is still flying aircraft of the Queen's Flight, the
fact he can no longer act as an instructor means he cannot hand over
control of the aircraft to a host pilot. That had been the official role
of the prince when he failed to land the BAe 146 at Islay on June 29
last year.
The aircraft initially touched down on its nosewheels with 784 metres
of runway remaining. However, the mainwheels did not make firm contact
with the ground.
With only 509 metres of runway remaining, the aircraft finally settled
but it was too late for the activation of various braking systems.
The captain attempted to turn to the left on to a taxiway. However,
the nosewheels left the paved surface and sank into soft ground.
Because of his failure to intervene in the final stages of the
approach, the captain was negligent. The navigator, who had failed to
advise the captain of a tailwind and to draw his attention to inaccurate
approach perameters, was also deemed to be negligent.
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