nor does it matter since the crew had by now breached one of the most basic rules of airmanship, ie do not fly IMC below your safety height.
But, John Purdey, the stark fact is that no-one knows, or will ever know, if the crew
were flying IMC of their own volition. There is a well-documented history of UFCMs in the Chinook, which appears to be continuing to this day, from other comments on this thread.
If a FADEC runaway or some other type of UFCM had happened shortly (a few seconds??) before they went IMC, wouldn't that change the position?