And particularly so prior to waypoint change, since some contend THIS is where negligence occurred.
This is where Bill Wratten (
Pilot magazine article)contends that "gross negligence" occurred and is, as Boslandew says,
the heart of the matter.
In the last nine years that this thread has been running, no-one has been able to say, with absolutely no doubt whatsoever, what the flight conditions were at waypoint change.
But Bill Wratten's stated view is that they were approaching the bad weather at too high a speed. So what speed is too high? Is it the only speed mentioned in the rules i.e 140 kts? Or is it some arbitrary figure based on the conditions. And what was their speed at this point? If we take the lowest estimated airspeed, was that too high for the prevailing conditions?
So, the heart of the matter is based on two factors, flight conditions
at waypoint change and speed. And these must be considered together because that is what Bill Wratten has done. (Remember his motorcycle in fog analogy?)
Nine years of debate on this thread, together with evidence from the BOI, FAI and HoL, have convinced me that there is considerable room for doubt on both of these factors.