Walter
I'm sorry, I will not accept your thesis.
Were it true, the crew would have to have been briefed by somebody to do what they did. Therefore, they would have been deliberately approaching a coastline in poor weather.
That is something I have done at least dozens if not hundreds of times in my 34 years in the RAF. I have done it supported by a fully engaged crew of four, a surface search radar accurate to under 100 yards and an autopilot rated to zero visibility / zero height / zero speed. I refuse to believe that any competent RAF crew without those sophisticated toys (ie flying a Chinook 2 rather than a Sea King 3) would have continued such an approach deliberately in the conditions prevailing. Without deliberate action there is no Gross Negligence. Further, having been asked to perform such a manouevre deliberately, I am certain that a crew of the experience involved here would have aborted given the conditions. Thus, the combination of your hypothesis and the outcome is, in my opinion, untenable.
Of course, it is again my opinion. It does not meet the standard of proof required.
Iain