Tony Blackman OBE, MA FRAes obtained an honours degree in Physics at Trinity College Cambridge. He learnt to fly in the RAF, trained as a test pilot, and then joined A V Roe to become chief test pilot. As an expert in aviation electronics he was subsequently invited by Smiths Industries to join their Aerospace Board, initially as technical operations director. On leaving Smiths he joined the board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority. He is a fellow of the American Society of Experimental Test Pilots, a fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and a liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots.
Joe Kennedy served as a police constable in the London Metropolitan Police Force before joining the RAF as an AEOp in September 1979. His time on the Nimrod was at RAF Kinloss flying with 201 and 206 Squadrons. He retired from the RAF in September 2011 and has been working in law enforcement since.