<<ATC had a flight very close to the airfield but, on the face of it, didn't seem to have a full picture of what was happening. >>
Not sure what you mean by this as you have not provided sufficient information. In those days Hurn may not have had radar and would have depended almost entirely on pilot reports. If the aircraft was at 13000 ft was it in Controlled Airspace? If so, was it under the control of London Airways or London radar (from Sopley)?
Thanks HD. True I don't have sufficient information about the accident itself and ATC systems available at the time, so I made my comments on what I knew. My assumption was that the flight was intending to land at Hurn and therefore local ATC would be monitoring it. However, the press cutting supplied said they never did intend to land there, so it's a false assumption.
BTW: I remember now that Ibsley was only a reporting point/beacon at the time and the London Control was carried out by the former RAF Sopley site.
Evansb - thanks for the information about available ATC systems at the time. However, as the College of ATC was located at Hurn I wonder if they did indeed benefit from radar and other enhanced facilities due to college flying activities locally?