ST
read post 119 - if this is a real witness post then the weather from an aviation point was not good. Ground witnesses are very unreliable sometimes. Fast jets in the area is also a red herring.
What is a Chinook mission commander? The captain of the a/c will always be in the front. Never heard of a mission commander unless he was an army officer in charge of the troops in the back
It is not unusual to be unable to recall a SH route after so much time. They don't fly along defined airways. There is a pick up point and a drop off point how you get between depends on a myriad of factors.
To a dispassionate reader of the events surrounding this tragic accident points to a low time PPL (5hrs on type) getting disorientated in poor viz and being unable to recover before hitting terra firma. It is a tragic way to loose a life but it happens too often. The influence of military traffic can be ruled out after all they would be at least 250ft below his legal transit height iaw rule 5.
AP