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| John Ward: victim of BPA negligence? |
BPA Watch is joined by Mike Bravo, a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner known to the CAA and the BPA by his real name, and Don Canard. Mike and Don are Airborne Forces veterans and, as such, government-trained, professional parachutists. Of the CAA, Mike says: "In my professional opinion, the Civil Aviation Authority is unlikely to be empowered to oversee parachuting. According to EASA and the ANO, the CAA's authority over skydivers and parachutists ends once the exit and clear the aircraft. At this point, authority and enforcement revert to the Health and Safety Executive.
Roman Kandells
CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER COVER-UPS?
By Don Canard
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| BPA Patron HRH Prince Charles |
Civil Aviation Authority executives from the top downwards tend to be reasonably communicative –– as long as one does not ask awkward questions. When asked, for instance, who authorised the delegation of parachuting oversight and regulation to British Parachute Association Ltd, senior and middle-ranking executives of this quasi-non-governmental agency clam up.
When asked why BPA Ltd pays substantially less to the CAA each year than the fees the company ought to be paying, according to the CAA's own Scheme of Charges, CAA executives either do not answer or answer questions one has not asked.
Perhaps the quasi-non-governmental mandarins of the CAA feel untouchable
because of their quango status. Perhaps the BPA and its ghost
directors feel protected by the CAA, the Royal Aero Club or by the
patronage of HRH Prince Charles, who is also Colonel-in-Chief of The Parachute Regiment and, as such, a government-trained parachutist. HRH agreed to be Patron of BPA when it was still a genuine sporting association run for the most part by serving and former Armed Forces officers.
Today, BPA Ltd is run by a rather shady, secretive cabal of ghost directors, none of whom seems able to produce any proof of professional qualifications justifying a regulatory role in relation to parachuting and skydiving. Chief Operations Officer Tony Butler's name does not appear on the list of 123 past and present directors of this purportedly not-for-profit company. Said to receive an annual salary north of £100,000 and other perks, Mr Butler has a penchant for late-model Bentley cars bearing his personalised number plate XXX AKB. AKB stands for Anthony Keiron Butler. Mr Butler has been on the BPA Ltd payroll for over thirty years since being engaged as one of the firm's two National Safety and Training Officers in 1990.
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| Tony Butler - Personalised Bentleys |
Mr Butler was present when BPA skydiver John Ward fell 13,000 feet to his death over the Tilstock Sport Parachute Centre in Shropshire on August 26th 1991. Ward was participating in a 16-man canopy-stacking display staged by the BPA to round off its August bank holiday skydiving meet at Tilstock.
John Ward's death was accidental but Shropshire police wanted to charge at least five parties with manslaughter and corporate manslaughter because of the negligence and reckless endangerment involved. The suspects included: Jump Master Jeff Page; Load Oganiser Ian Marshall; BPA Chief Club Instructor Lyn George; BPA Parachute Pilot and Parachute Pilot Examiner Dave Harrison, who also co-owned the Tilstock Sport Parachute Centre.
The fifth party was BPA Ltd, which would have been prosecuted for corporate manslaughter. There was also talk of charging the owners and operators of the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante aircraft involved in John Ward's death for, allegedly, telling CCI Lyn George that their Bandeirante had the necessary CAA clearances for parachuting in the United Kingdom.
The AAIB report, published in December 1991, stated that the Bandeirante, registered as G-SWAG and based at Southend Airport, was flown to Tilstock by a pilot who then handed it over to a second pilot who arrived by road. The second pilot was described in the report as a BPA-qualified Parachute Pilot and Parachute Pilot Examiner with 1,069 flying hours logged.
According to the Air Accident Investigation Branch, BPA skydivers had made more than 600 jumps from the Bandeirante that weekend, before John Ward's death after his head struck the aircraft's tailplane as he exited. However, the AIBB report is not clear about which pilot was at the controls on the morning on August 26th 1991.
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| Ian Marshall –– Red Devil 1978 |
The BPA ordered its Safety and Training Committee to convene an inquiry, headed by Tony Knight. The pilot, unnamed in the AAIB report, was identified as Dave Harrison, who was also said to have been a co-owner of G-SWAG.
BPA insiders confirm that Dave Harrison was a BPA-rated Parachute Pilot and Parachute Pilot Examiner. The AIBB report, however, does not mention these qualifications in the foreword to its report, instead stating simply that the pilot at the controls when the accident occurred held a Commercial Pilot's Licence.
Ian Marshall, a former Parachute Regiment Red Devils Team skydiver who was the designated Load Organiser for the canopy-stacking display in which John Ward was participating, is adamant that Harrison was not flying G-SWAG during the canopy-stacking display.
Marshall told BPA Watch: "I don't know who the pilot was but he wasn't Dave Harrison. This pilot had already flown twelve lifts that morning and we were the thirteenth. The other lifts were skydivers, who tend to exit in a bunch. For that kind of exit, the pilot needs to compensate for the sudden weight loss at the back of the aircraft by lighting the nose because the rear of aircraft rises. We, on the other hand, were exiting one-by-one for the canopy-stacking display, a bit like military parachutists. The pilot should have adjusted the trim during the jump phase and dropped the nose. He lifted the nose and John Ward was hit by the tailplane.".
Skydiver Number Ten, the tenth skydiver in the stick or jump order, had checked Ward's equipment. Ward was Number Seven. The AAIB report summarised his testimony: "He noted that, as jumpers four, five and six passed close to the tail following their exit. He also noted that, as jumper number seven stood in the doorway, facing inboard, his right foot was about nine inches aft of the red painted line on the floor. He saw him exit and turn to face the direction of travel of the aircraft; shortly afterwards the back of his helmet struck the tail of the aircraft. The observer then jumped out of the aircraft and lost contact.".
The AAIB report describes the pilot as stating that he was still climbing at an air indicated speed of 130 knots with the aircraft nose 12° up pitch when he felt "a slight and short vibration", indicating that the jumpers were exiting the aircraft. He reacted by lowering speed to 110 knots and dropping the nose. On reading the AAIB report for the first time twenty-nine years later, Ian Marshall said: "If that is what the pilot told the AAIB investigators, he was lying. Had he dropped the nose, the jumpers exiting the aircraft would have passed under the tailplane without any trouble.".
Marshall recalled: "Two AIBB investigators came to see me. They showed me a manifest that was not, in fact, the manifest I had completed and signed on the day. The version shown to me by the AIBB was written up afterwards. I happened to have a copy of the original and made them a photocopy of it in a shop across the road from my place.
"There was a person missing from the AIBB manifest: the girl sitting in the co-pilot's seat. There were nineteen people aboard, not eighteen. Also, I had crossed myself off as Jump Master and put in Jeff Page's name; Jeff was the Jump Master. I never heard from the AIBB afterwards. As far as I know, the inquest was never closed.".
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| Tony Knight: Looking for scapegoats? |
Of the BPA inquiry under Tony Knight, Ian Marshall recalled: "They tried to blame me because one of the jumpers, apparently, had a falsified medical certificate. Then they raised questions about equipment checks on the ground. They were clearly trying to pin negligence on me but I was the Load Organiser. None of this had anything to do with me.
"I was checking equipment and documents on the ground but only the jumpers. It would have been up to our National Coach and Safety Officer to check the documentation of the aircraft and the pilot.". Ian Marshall knows his subject because he was a director of BPA Ltd at the time.
The pathologist who examined John Ward's remains told AAIB investigators that Ward "was probably rendered unconscious by the impact with the horizontal stabiliser" before falling 13,000 feet to his death. The AIBB report noted "minor damage to the leading edge of the left horizontal stabiliser". John Ward did not die as a consequence of faulty equipment or a lack of safety checks before emplaning.
The BPA magazine Sport Parachutist published a letter from Jeff Page in its December 1991 issue. Page wrote: "Unfortunately the coroners [sic] enquiry has now been put back to 'Feb 1992' so the bulk of the membership will be voting prior to the findings of the court being made public.". Page was referring to the imminent BPA Council elections.
Page was referring to the BPA's Safety and Training Committee, the BPA having convened its own inquiry into John Ward's death. Page's letter carried on: "I was the jumpmaster [sic] of the Bandeirante who was initially branded the culprit. I was the jumpmaster who was going to be charged with manslaughter. For all those who knew that the aircraft was totally illegal, and used it for capital gain... I hope they have your [votes].".
As the AAIB report records, BPA Chief Club Instructor Lyn George had initially booked a Shorts 330 aircraft for the weekend event but had been unable to obtain the necessary CAA clearances in time. George then booked a Shorts SC7 Skyvan and was also offered G-SWAG. The AAIB report stated: "As far as [Lyn George] was concerned, this was an appealing idea as, to his knowledge, this type of aircraft had not been used before, in the United Kingdom, in the parachuting role. [Lyn George] stated that he was assured by a representative of the operating company that the necessary CAA authorisation had been obtained, but he did not personally check the documentation.".
Nor did Tony Butler, the BPA National Safety and Training Officer who was not only present at the Tilstock event but, according to witnesses, had himself jumped from G-SWAG several times. In October 2020, the BPA Drop Zone Controller on duty at Tilstock on the morning of August 26th 1991 sent the following comment to BPA Watch: "It was nearly thirty years ago but I was DZ control at the time and I don't know anything about a falsified manifest. I did feel sorry for [Tony Butler] who arrived as a fun jumper but became NSTO through circumstances.".
The AAIB report stated that the pilot –– whoever he was –– was BPA-rated but not on the Bandeirante in the parachuting role. A BPA NSTO could reasonably be expected to be familiar with the Parachute Pilots and Parachute Pilot Examiners on the BPA register and their qualifications. If unfamiliar with the pilot, the BPA NSTO ought to have asked to see his licence. Tony Butler did none of these things, according to witnesses, one of whom recalls overhearing Tony Butler being told to "disappear quickly".
The BPA inquiry run by Tony Knight concluded that the Bandeirante did not conform to BPA safety regulations. G-SWAG was not cleared for parachuting by the Civil Aviation Authority in the configuration in which it was being operated. Nor was the aircraft approved for flight in British skies with its cargo door removed. The AAIB report was clear on these points.
Jeff Page concluded his letter to Sport Parachutist by noting: "The BPA Board of Enquiry have subsequently totally exonerated me.". As in the case of Load Master Ian Marshall, the BPA was unable to attribute any negligence to Jeff Page, who was merely the Jump Master. The AAIB report makes it clear that Marshall and Page carried out their duties impeccably, that the pilot was not qualified to operate the Bandeirante in the parachuting role and that the aircraft type was not cleared by the CAA for parachute dropping.
Page ended with a postscript: "Thanks to Dave (where is he now?) and all the others involved for the inspiration and need for this letter.". If Page was referring to Dave Harrison, several of "the others involved" recall that Harrison vanished from the skydiving scene in the United Kingdom for several years.
The Shropshire police were forced to drop their manslaughter investigation after Harrison's lawyers demanded that an independent autopsy be carried out on John Ward's remains. However, Ward's body had been released by the authorities and cremated, despite the ongoing criminal investigation. Attempts to locate any coroners court findings relating to John Ward's death have so far proved fruitless, bearing a widely-held belief that the inquest was never closed.
The premature
cremation of Ward's remains notwithstanding, the intended manslaughter
prosecutions might have been unsuccessful for other reasons. Defence
counsel would probably have argued that while the aircraft
type was not CAA-approved for parachuting, it was not illegal per se to
parachute from the Bandeirante. As for the cargo door, it was
designed to be removed even if its removal requiring drifting out the
hinge pins with a hammer and punch, a modification carried out by Dave Harrison on the first day of the three-day meeting. 
Dave Harrison now runs a parachute training centre in Thailand and did not respond to BPA Watch's emails. When G-SWAG was photographed in July 1992 by David Lunn for unrelated reasons, she was owned by BAC Charters and based in Jersey, beyond mainland British jurisdiction.
The confusion over the identity of the pilot who was flying G-SWAG is underlined by the AAIB's reference to two pilots and Ian Marshall's recollection of the falsified manifest, which made no mention of the bikini-clad girl sitting in the co-pilot's seat. Although the AAIB report names nobody, the investigators seem to have taken Marshall's genuine manifest into account as they referred to a "passenger". All of this raises questions: who was flying G-SWAG when John Ward was killed –– apparently through pilot inexperience and error –– and why has he not been identified? Who was protecting him?
Tony Butler is on record as saying that he has been involved in the investigation of more than fifty skydiving-related fatalities but like his friends at the CAA, he clams up whenever John Ward's name is mentioned. He was not only one of two BPA NSTOs at the time but was a witness to Ward's death, which raises questions: if the BPA Safety and Training Committee excused Butler from sitting on the inquiry panel because he was a witness to the incident, why did the BPA inquiry not call him to testify? Why is Butler's name nowhere to be seen in any of the available documentation?
Far from being the not-for-profit sporting association it claims to be, British Parachute Association Ltd is a lucrative enterprise. Its profitability over the years has been boosted by the failure of the Civil Aviation Authority to charge BPA Ltd anything like the appropriate annual fees according to its own Scheme of Charges. Other British parachuting associations and display teams accuse the BPA of building a monopoly over sports and civilian parachuting in the United Kingdom, aided and abetted by the CAA.
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| Tony Butler: untouchable? |
The evidence suggests that they are not exaggerating. Some observers wonder how Mr Butler has acquired and held onto his power. They wonder what his leverage is. As Mark Bravo remarked, conspiracy to breach Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is a serious criminal offence. Anyone involved in criminal conspiracies of this nature would have considerable leverage over his co-conspirators.
Nobody was ever held to account for John Ward's death by Crown authorities. The British Parachute Association made a scapegoat of Chief Club Instructor Lyn George by withdrawing his BPA ratings but no BPA Ltd director, safety officer or employee was sanctioned.
No action was taken against the pilot – whoever he was –even though he was not qualified to drop parachutists from the Bandeirante. Given the strong possibility that John Adams died as a result of pilot inexperience and error, why did the BPA not withdraw Dave Harrison's BPA ratings? Was it because, as Ian Marshall –– who was also a director of BPA Ltd at the time –– recalls, Dave Harrison was not flying G-SWAG that morning?
While it is too late to prosecute any former or serving BPA Ltd officers and officials for corporate manslaughter and conpiracy over John Ward's death, there have been numerous other fatalities and injuries in the intervening years, some of which might justify charges of negligence, reckless endangerment and corporate manslaughter.
And then there is the question of criminal
conspiracy, which is an awkward question indeed, given the endorsement of BPA Ltd –– trading as British Skydiving –– by the Civil Aviation Authority, the Royal Aero Club and
the Heir to the Crown, HRH Prince Charles.
Don Canard
