As a consequence of the incident, two separate investigations were conducted.
“The Judge Advocate General (JAG) cited a technical malfunction as the root cause of the crash whereas the Navy Mishap Investigation Report (MIR) came to the conclusion that it was a pilot error to induce the fatal left engine stall.”
Until the latter was leaked, the JAG version was Navy’s official position on the mishap.
1. There are always two investigations for every mishap. A JAG to find any legal culpability, and a Safety Investigation. The two are done independently. While the JAG is limited in scope, the safety investigation is not. One critical part of the safety investigation is that the information in that investigation is "privileged." Only those that would benefit from the knowledge are allowed to see the results. That doesn't include releasing it to the press.
2. The main causal factor for the crash was the engine stall. Now we can argue forever about whether that was the pilot's fault, or the Navy's fault for continuing to fly the F-14A with a crappy engine. Jerking the throttles around on the Tomcat wasn't what you wanted to do. Personally, I only had three stalls in the four years I flew the F-14A and all of them turned out to be engines that had to be replaced. I treated those engines very gingerly.
3. I don't think LT Hultgreen should have been flying those planes, either. The key difference is that the people that should have stopped it didn't, and the dirt that came out after her death came from some of the same people that should have put a stop to it. The guy that crashed his airplane in Nashville and killed people on the ground was from the same squadron and he was worse. Same problem, people didn't put a stop to a guy that needed to be grounded. It is a tough job, but sometimes you have to do tough things. I had to fail a good friend on an annual check ride that ultimately led to the end of his flying career. I didn't want to do it, but he simply wasn't good enough. We aren't friends anymore, but his wife still has a husband and his kid still has a dad.
4. The F-14 had command eject. With qualified crew in the front and back we always flew in command eject, meaning if either of us pulled the handle we both went. The RIO always goes first. When Matt pulled the ejection handle, he was pulling it for both of them, unfortunately the airplane had gotten so slow that it got to a region of control reversibility and departed controlled flight. Matt's "successful" ejection included some skipping across the waves, Kara was found still in her seat. That line of service doesn't leave much room for error. Matt got lucky, Kara didn't. If somebody ever insinuated that the RIO saved himself and left her, in my presence, I would have troubles controlling my rage.
Hear! Hear! I know a little bit about most of what you said and what the thread says via it’s posters. I packed chutes for the F-4’s and F-16’s. Our pilots went to green flags and red flags and so did we. My ex wife’s cousin was an F-14 driver in the Top Gun movie and went on to fly the shuttle a time or two. My friend flew Greyhounds off a carrier until he bottomed out on the “list” and left the service in shame. One of our F 16 pilots was heading to our red flag base in Europe (a commercial heavy pilot) and lost an engine on take off in a lawn dart. The aircraft rotated (at night) and he punched out, out of the envelope as they say. They found him in the seat. Everything deployed as intended, except it needed atmospheric resistance to work. In other words, he punched out inverted and ran out of time/airspace. The point being- mess with the bull get the horns. High speed dirt. High speed - low drag. Affirmative action ain’t where it’s at. The ground don’t care. I detest the elitism of the brass. It’s the signature downfall of the rank structure, along with political correctness, fagsville, woman are equal (except when they’re not) yada yada yada. JAG protected a warrant officer bagging my wife. I eventually gained custody of my son. Had I not- someone might have been missing part of their anatomy... either waist high, or shoulder high. I hate the officer corps. Just sayin’
Not really, since "those" are taxpayers, who never got the real truth through official sanction.
The operational reality is, the front seat of an F-14 is one the absolute pinnacles of aviation's meritocracy.
You earn the position by waging a constant war of skill and competency against the many checks and balances that NEVER stop saying: "You can't do that and if you do, you will die trying." and "How can I kill you today?"
Those checks and balances don't care what PC has to say about much of anything, especially not about how unfair it all is.
Instead, those checks and balances only talk about consequence, and when ignored they usually just say "I told you so" and/or "Rest In Peace".
Such a loss. Could have just said "no" and lived another day, instead of becoming a casualty of the PC war that should never have been fought.
What does Fate write on the tomb of the PC Soldier?
"Here Lies a Casualty of a Lost Cause"