Whilst I don't wish to intimate blame (and have always been appalled at the big-wigs / political decision to slate the crew without real evidence), I've always been puzzled at the crew decision to plan a track over high granite in marginal weather, in any aircraft, let alone one in which the crew had less than full confidence.
For those who've flown around the area (many) a small diversion around the MoK would have made little difference to their overall ETA & logic says a low-level visual route between MoK & Arran, or going up the West side & hopping over the Machrihanish saddle, would have reduced workload in the event of malfunction or systems doubt? It would also have had significantly less risk than a, potentially system-affected, climb to get over the biggest bit of cumulo-granite on the immediate planned track? I still fail to believe that, with the fair (witnessed/TANS) certainty that they were VCF over the water, that any systems/FADEC failure would have interrupted the ability to change heading at 400/500'?
I'm afraid I'm with Ag-B & D-B that the likelihood of CFIT is greatest, but there would appear to have been so many other pressure factors that personal, corporate or political ar*e-saving may not have been high enough up the priority list, very sadly.
D-B - I'd strongly advise not attacking FL or his views & certainly not his balanced, but legal, approach to his posts. He's FL because he's just that - there's nothing "barrack-room" about his views on law or aviation, and most of us (certainly those who know what he's done for aviation in the courts) welcome his sagacity on this forum.
Last edited by zorab64; 8th Apr 2014 at 08:38.
Reason: D-Bs latest post