Failure by the pilot to maintain VMC was the very simple cause of the crash .
If the pilot had of stayed out of the ground based obscuration , his passengers would not have died in the aircraft under his control .
Sophiests playing word games . The decision of the Pilot to continue into cloud while "VFR" was the cause of the crash . Simple.
The Ambulance chasers always go after the deepest pockets in a shotgun lawsuit. Hence the ATC getting accused .
I have lots of experience scud running and would never enter cloud that close to ground , I have turned around and tried different routes when I have been stopped by a wall of weather while flying low level .
The Pilot did not take advantage of the aircraft ability to hover . He made many errors but the one that killed him was going into cloud below MSA.