ST,
Apart from some cloud on top of the Mull was the weather not quite reasonable? Near Portrush the sky was a little darker than usual following some heavy early afternoon rain but visiblity seemed quite good. The Chinook ZD576 should have been able to veer a few degrees to port as it approached the lighthouse and continue flying at the same height.
I was reminded of the Kintyre crash when I read
www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=1999/3/1/223707] and this brief passage from the Guarino report:
"Velji Do, Croatia, 2:58 Pm.:
Everyone in this tiny collection of stone huts at the base of Sveti Ivan hears a plane go directly overhead in the clouds, then power its engines mightily for one instant.
Aboard the plane, the klaxon of its ground-proximity warning device suddenly blares, jolting Captain Davis. He immediately jerks the plane upward and to the left.
The two to three seconds of warning are far too little. The plane’s left wingtip touches ground, spinning it directly into the rocky hillside, making an earth-shaking explosion. There is the crackling hiss of a huge fireball as the plane and its large load of fuel burn. Then a dead silence in the mist."