While accusations of gross negligence against the pilots are mere unfounded opinion, this cannot be said of those who knowingly and quite deliberately permitted the airworthiness of the aircraft to erode in the preceding years. It is a pity there doesn't seem to be any mechanism whereby their actions are recognised, except promotion and fat pensions.
Worse, nothing has changed and still we see Boards of Inquiry citing failure to implement these mandated regulations. Nimrod, Tornado, Sea King............... Their actions were, and remain, without any doubt whatsoever, a breach of Duty of Care amounting to Gross Negligence.