invertron
Nice to see some fresh thinking in the thread. You say:
If they were not VMC then they MUST (r) MUST climb to above the safety altitude.
But there was a problem with even that. The Mk2 Chinook's pitiful 'icing' clearance was +4 degC. The information available to the crew would indicate that level to be about 2500ft, well below the SALT. They simply did not have the option to climb.
You are quite right, we will never know what happened to the degree of certainty required to find negligence as the cause.
Sorry Walter, but you are talking tosh. I've flown VFR in some very marginal conditions, and have never had difficulty in judgement of distane, and closure rates in misty conditions. One thig I would NEVER have done is to rey on DME for it.
JP
Please see the recent book 'Chinook Crash', which explains why the crew did not realise that they were so far to the right of their intended track,
It doesn't. It gives the author's opinion, (which may be accurate, who knows?) not fact beyond any doubt whatsoever.