bast0n:
Never in my time did I ever accept an aircraft that I was worried about.
That is utter drivel, bast0n, and you know it. How on earth did you make it through to retirement without ever being worried? Old pilots and bold pilots eh? I guess you're the exception that proves the rule, or simply lacking in all imagination? I find your posts to be some of the most annoying of all, bast0n. At least the apologists just keep pumping out the same old hackneyed script and not answering questions, either from a sense of duty or self preservation. What motivates you I know not, nor really care, but I find your middle of the road position, of accepting the scenario pushed out by Messrs W&D yet not able to bring yourself to accept their finding as untenable.
For myself, if I truly believed that these two pilots maintained heading and speed on track for sharply rising ground after going IMC, with 25 pax on-board, I wouldn't come to any other conclusion than that they were negligent. I might demure at gross negligence simply because of the lack of certainty, but as I understand it your position is that the MOD scenario is correct, but that the pilots were merely in error, is that right? You may have gone through life unworried, but I wonder if your crew and pax felt the same?
Oh, and as for:
It is not the only aircraft in the world with FADEC or equivalent systems in place
You really must be joking. It isn't that FADEC's were fitted, but that they were controlled by totally corrupt code resulting in arbitrary run-ups, run-downs, and shut-downs with no manual reversion. How well briefed these pilots were about that I know not, but given that Very Senior Officers were so briefed and still saw fit to release the aircraft into RAF service, I suspect that they knew little other than rumours. Stops them worrying too much, don't you know?