Thud,
Very well said, even after your bedtime!
We can all think back like yourself and from our own personal experiences, relate to the accident situation in a very different way from the Air Marshals, as did the RAF's own BOI. The story of the flight is a one that the true authors sadly did not get to finish. From what is, or more relevantly, isn't known, there are any number of ways to write the final chapter in the abscence of the word of those who should have been allowed to complete it, namely the crew.
MOD have perhaps chosen to finish the story in a way that suited (and still does suit) their political aims of the time. It appears that at least in the short term, the constitution of this country allows this to continue. Even if a satisfactory conclusion is not reached in the short term, in years to come I think it is likely there will be more evidence to support a very different conclusion.
We should ask whose careers would have been at risk if at least some of the blame HAD been laid on the desks of those responsible for the management debacle of the introduction of the Chinook Mark 2 into service - without the required Controller of Aircraft's Release to Service. Also, we should ask who insisted that the fated flight went ahead despite the crew's (and everyone else's) reluctance to fly the aircraft.
