In all of the discussion that I have seen on this tragic accident and the seemingly indefensible accusation of gross negligence against the pilots, there are a few aspects that warrant deeper analysis. I have not seen these discussed before and have not previously aired my thoughts in public. The details below are written from memory of documentation that I read at the time and from discussion with knowledgeable friends. I hope that someone reading this is able to follow them up.
a. Why put a large number of highly important intelligence personnel together on a military, tactical helicopter and transport them at low level? Why not use commercial transport with the commensurate lower probability of a catastrophic accident? It IS possible to travel incognito and securely on a scheduled airline when involved in highly classified projects. Surely, the political embarrassment of making such an horrific and uneducated decision regarding the transport of such important people has been the driver behind making the pilots scapegoats!
b. The Mark 2 Chinook was, at the time of the accident, prohibited from flying in icing conditions. This was quite normal for a helicopter that was just being introduced to service and had only a limited clearance. However, as I recall, the cloudbase around the accident site was approximately 1000 ft and the freezing level was only just above this. Therefore, the crew did not have an option to climb above safety altitude and obey the Release to Service icing limitations existing on their aircraft.
c. The crew were going to be very close to exceeding their duty time by the time they returned to base at the end of the planned sorties. This would have made them reluctant to deviate from the planned track and thus extend the flight time.
d. A crew under pressure is more likely to make mistakes than one that is not (providing the task is not so mundane as to put them in a state of underarousal). The above points, b and c especially, would have put the crew under considerable pressure, as would their known fears concerning the relatively common FADEC runaways.
e. A Mark 1 Chinook was available for the mission. This had a clearance for flight in icing conditions and did not suffer from engine control problems. Therefore, the use of a Mark 1 would have reduced the pressure on the crew significantly.
The fact that the charge of gross negligence against the pilots was first made by a senior officer who was well up the command chain and not the actual Board of Inquiry has been reported in the public domain before. The fact that to justify a verdict of gross negligence requires there must be NO doubt at all has also been reported. Perhaps my memory has been influenced by the sadness and anger within me at the political injustice that has been perpetrated against two highly professional pilots who were trying to carry out what I consider to be a poorly planned mission in adverse conditions. But I hope that that my views may lead to the long overdue justice that the pilots deserve and that their families are owed.