Chinook
I've not read all of the posts on this subject and I understand the emotive nature of this thread but isn't there another angle to look at here?
Perhaps Jon and Rick (and all on board) were victims of a certain culture within the RAF and a pressure to achieve an important trip.
I saw this culture several times in the Navy amongst the Junglie fraternity. It goes like this.........'Why do your HDS at 1000' when you can do it at 200' (and as fast as possible)?'
Now there's nothing wrong with that as long as the conditions allow. Perhaps the pilots considered flying higher but were unable due to weather and (perhaps) icing considerations. If this were the case then their supervisors (authorisers) should have considered the option of sending these important passengers on a chartered or scheduled airline (or a Herc or something). It seems that the responsibility for the circumstances surrounding the crash should not be loaded solely on the pilots but taken across the board..bottom to top etc.