Grounding at Boscombe
K52 writes "I always understood that the Boscombe Pilots DID NOT refuse to fly the Chinook but that pre - planned maintenance was brought forward whilst awaiting further data to arrive to enable icing trials to be carried out."
This is not correct. Boscombe grounded the aircraft for safety reasons. A report had been prepared for the Commandant explaining why the flight trials should not continue. As I recollect, the premise was that further work would be unjustifiable (on safety grounds) until a solution had been found to the existing FADEC issues.
As it happens, the Mull accident happened between the date the report was completed (and the appointment with the Commandant was booked) and the meeting taking place.
Be in no doubt that all concerned realised the magnitude of the step they were taking in stopping the trials.