The way I was taught, and I am not saying it is right, wrong nor indifferent, (in todays arena), and this was at an airfield with one runway, 840 mts long, that on take off after crossing the numbers in a normal climb to 500' min, commence turn on outward leg to downwind, and by the time you are ready to join downwind you will be approaching circuit height of 1000'.
Traffic joining crosswind, across the numbers, having descended deadside, at 1000', in all my experinece, has been well overhead departing traffic, and would be in front of you if you were joing circuit. If you were not you are well clear and underneath joining traffic, to continue on your desired heading away from the airfield.
This has always been so basic, and my understanding that this is the way it is taught, and is in all CAA publications, that I cannot get to grips with why so many people appear to be at odds with it. It seems so standard.
Now getting back to this tragic incident, the start of this discussion, was that, IF, and we do not know yet, the croswwind aircraft was in the 'correct position', and was hit by a departing aircraft (FACTS NOT KNOWN), then the question was why, or how, could a departing aeroplane be at same level as a crosswind join??????? Obviously this is not a desirable position to be in.