Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
True - inasmuch as the root cause of every airborne accident is the fact that the aircraft was flying at the time ...
Exactly. If (hypothetically) a pilot's car was untaxed and uninsured, you couldn't say the root cause of an accident involving that pilot was the police's failure to impound his car, thereby enabling them to drive to the airfield and fly the aircraft. That's despite the fact that the tax and insurance status of the pilot's car might well say something about their attention to detail and their attitude to regulation.
tucumseh makes some very good points, there were clearly massive airworthiness failings, but it appears that this accident probably happened before the airworthiness issues had a chance to cause a different one.