For the record, and particularly for Walter Kennedy , who has persistently raised the subject of the IFF 'squawk' worn by ZD576, I have elicited the following information from an appropriate authority:
1. Aldergrove ATC was not fitted with SSR in June 94 and as such the aircraft would not have been allocated a Mode 3 IFF Squawk.
2. As there was no SSR in place, there is also no way of telling whether he was using a self allocated squawk such as 7000.
We will therefore never know what squawk was in use and, whilst I cannot subscribe to Mr Kennedy's bizarre theory, this simply adds another doubt as to what actually happened.
Responding to other points raised, please remember that just because the crew appear to have been in control of the aircraft at the Waypoint change and to have had some semblance of manoeuvre authority (as opposed to control) at impact, does not mean that there wasn't a period between of 'loss of control'. It is therefore unsafe to make the assumption that, because they did not turn or climb to avoid the Mull, they are guilty of gross negligence "beyond any doubt whatsoever" or, IMHO, "beyond reasonable doubt". Indeed, the more I research this accident, the less I consider their negligence to be even likely.