Walter
The "merit" in the airworthiness debate is to illustrate, beyond any doubt, that the MoD failed in its Duty of Care to the aircrew and pax.
Along with, primarily, the appalling history of ZD576 in the weeks before the crash, that constitutes reasonable doubt.
These are verifiable facts, unlike the MoD's conjecture. I submit this thread needs a regular dose of these facts, if only to counter the Anti-Airworthiness and Safety stance. Especially so today, as another group of bereaved families enter a new phase of their fight against MoD's systemic failings. The similarities are lost on many, but when you get down to it Mull, Nimrod, C130 and others are very similar indeed. Just different paragraphs of the same chapter of the regulations that haven't been applied properly (to paraphrase ACM Sir Clive Loader's statement in the Nimrod report).