Gents,
I can see nothing in the last half dozen or so posts that would be causal to the accident - rather, just the appearance of blame shifting.
Sadly, I think that we might find that the root cause of this accident will be something like somatogravic effects causing spatial disorientation, or if the engine failure theory is found to have merit, then an inability to maintain control of the aircraft subsequent to that (a difficult ask, but given the likely AUW, certainly do-able from a performance standpoint). Alternatively, perhaps an AI failure of some description which would be disorienting in the extreme (anyone having done this in the sim would, I hope, agree that hand flying an aircraft in a flight critical sequence (ie take-off) with a misleading attitude reference and no external cues would be amongst the most demanding flying tasks...). I'll wait for the ATSB on all this.
Who owns the aircraft is irrelevant from a flight safety standpoint. Who the charter operator was is irrelevant from a flight safety standpoint. These questions may ultimately become relevant from a legal / liability perspective though, and I will be interested to see where this aspect goes in the fullness of time - but it doesn't really produce positive energy at this time.
However, no one here seems to have raised the issue of pilot training and recency. If I know my charter companies, some have CAR 217 organisations (ie somewhat more stringent proficiency checking requirements IAW CAO) but many do not. This, to me, is one of the biggest bugbears facing GA. Training is expensive, but is the best insurance an operator can have - particularly when their often inexperienced drivers are flogging around on pitch black nights in venerable machinery maintained on a budget. CPs and CEOs set the tone / culture for this.
I, for one, would like to know whether pilots in these companies are receiving regular training (not just checking) and some form of professional development, or whether they simply get a minimalistic instrument rating renewal and three circuits with the CP once a year, because company apathy is "who cares - they'll be off somewhere else soon enough...". This, I reckon, is a major issue at hand here and the sooner all charter operators are mandated to have at least a CAR 217 the better. Pass the costs off to the clients.
No disrepect to the pilot involved, but what tools, development and recency was he provided with to go out that night and maximise his chances of dealing with whatever went wrong?