Personally I've always had a suspicion that any verdict other than the grossly unjust one trumped up by Wratten and Day could have left MoD et al wide open to very substantial compensation claims from the relatives of the deceased.....
Corporate manslaughter as a result of carrying passengers in an aircraft over which there were known airworthiness concerns and which subsequently crashed in circumstances which have never been conclusively proven 'beyond any doubt whatsoever'?