And so, upon reading and digesting the MoD’s response I find nothing where they explain away – for it is their accident to explain away – the specific issue raised of hydraulic contamination found in the crash aircraft.
A fractured tie-bolt that linked the pilot controls and the hydraulic servos operating the flight control systems also remains a possible cause. The undisputed evidence found: “The bolt was badly manufactured, with a second, redundant and roughly drilled split-pin hole in the threaded area.”
The MoD say it is not important to know the height or speed of the aircraft at Waypoint change. Negligence had occurred by the time the Waypoint change was made (at a time unknown). The belief the crew had inputted a WP change a postulated 18-21 seconds/1.75km before impact was found wanting when Boeing conceded the simulation could in no way be used to prove what was at best a theory working backwards.
I was curious to know more from Boeing, so I visited them at their military plant in Philadelphia, where ZD576 was born and updated. The Spanish fleet of Chinooks was being updated at that time and Boeing reps. graciously showed me around, allowing me to see the 'broom cupboard' controls area, the wiring, where a key tie-bolt would go. No-one at Boeing I spoke to knows why the Chinook crashed.
The MoD has had a special team of civil servants working the Chinook file. The aftermath has taken up hundreds if not thousands of hours of their time. Brian's suggestion that a more accurate finding would be to say Cause Not Positively Established/Unknown has merit. After all, all we want is the truth and it is that finding that seems the most truthful based on the available facts.
With new details based on eye-popping memos from Boscombe Down, Whitehall should let right be done. Sir Kevin Tebbitt's influence should force the department to move toward legitimacy. We're all tired.
The echo of tragedy surrounding the Mull is that even with the voices and commitment of prime ministers (Major, Thatcher), MoD secretaries of state and junior ministers, Scottish Secretaries, Northern Ireland secretaries, peers, the ministry of defence sits remote and dangerously detached.
Remarkable, the MoD has authority still on its side each time it replies in the negative to common sense argument. But with each year that passes it loses further shine from its shield of legitimacy and over further time it will have few defenders when its most natural defenders are us all.