This debate of "should we or shouldn't we speculate" comes up after every significant or fatal accident and long and meandering threads always start at the same time. But the subject and the threads never come up when AAIB reports are issued and we could actually learn something. This tells me the intent of the speculation is more about morbid curiousity and car-wreck rubbernecking than genuine learning and improving one's own flying. You can color it any way you want, but that's the reality. And no one can learn anything significant from incomplete, and often erroneous, details of the incident, which are all that's available until the AAIB report is published, ergo, there is no real learning or useful debate to be had from these threads. They just serve to perpetuate rumour and Monday-morning quaterbacking.
I refuse to get involved in most of these for the above reason, and I think this one faded out so quickly because of Stik's eloquent post, which still stands as the best word on the subject.
Threads post-accident which celebrate the lives and times of the victims are most welcome and are genuinely useful to helping the family and the aviation community grieve the loss of a loved-one and, fortunately, that has been the lion's share of the content on this thread.
I know we'll never end the speculative threads any more than we'll keep drivers from slowing to 20 mph on the opposite side of a motorway from an accident, but these threads teach us no more than the drivers learn while rubbernecking. I just wish people would own up to that truth and decide not to add to them.
Now, back to celebrating the life and times of Ian and wishing Steve well. Please?