Quintinshill

As David Allan shows (Letters, 26 May), some people still have a “blame the pilot” mindset as seen in the RAF investigation of the Kintyre Chinook crash and a Scottish spring bank holiday did in fact take place that 1915 weekend of the Gretna train crash, and was Caledonian’s excuse for using wooden, gas-lit carriages.

But there is a world of difference between such carriages being used in slow, stopping locals and running them as part of a 70mph express train while the elephant in the room was the power of wealthy shareholders to affect the departure and running of mainline trains.

Hugh Urquhart argued it serves no purpose if an investigation is simply a “blame exercise” rather than an effort to find out why two experienced signalmen made such a mistake.

Fortunately this has been the direction taken by most modern air accident investigators.

(Rev Dr) John 
Cameron

Howard Place

St Andrews