WR, your Post at #1741 sets out an entirely believable reason why the IG could have been told to keep schtum on the matter and is one I'd not considered - mainly due to the fact that the concept of "discretion" is not one that seems to be prevalent here in the UK. The old "Crown Immunity" was, to me as a layman, possibly our version of "discretion" but that has been reined in over the past few decades.
Here, safety cover-ups (the Mull of Kintyre Chinook fiasco being an immediate example that springs to my mind) seemed more aimed at protecting the reputations of individuals rather than fending off litigation - hence the findings of the RAF's own Board of Inquiry being overturned by Senior Officers to protect those even more Senior Officers above them.
Maybe we live in a simpler legal world here in the UK so your comments are, as ever, quite illuminating to this Brit and highlight things from a different angle which is much appreciated. Whatever the reasons for such obscurification, I do often find myself thinking that the world we live in is not quite as "civilised" and "honest" as we try and make out.
And on that rather depressing observation I'll revert to "lurk mode"!
