One environmentalist issue was their route to feet wet. At one point we had an on site brief to make it clear where the over night roosts were and that they should ensure a coast crossing at right angles.
The representative from Lakenheath or Mildenhall was an RAF Wg Cdr, ex-kipper fleet (Al B).
You can see the danger area and bird haz areas here:
http://www.mantma.co.uk/pdf/eg_enr_6_5_1_1_en.pdf
Yet again, if they were approaching land from the sea (one comment) how would you account for witnesses on land hearing anything?
*nothing said above should be taken to imply that that was true of the crash event.