if they had not taken off it would not have happened either, DB.
Why the need to be at Safety Height if they were intent upon remaining VFR/VMC?
Likewise, plotting a waypoint to a known bit of rock does not mean one has to get to the Way Point before changing course. After crossing some water, without Radar to show the coastline, perhaps they wanted to ensure where that bit of Rock was so as to facilitate a Visual point of Reference.
As there were no Survivors and no CVR, we shall never know what the Pilots were thinking, planning, or doing when they met their end in this tragedy.
What we know for sure is the aircraft struck the ground while in flight, the weather was not good, the aircraft did not have all the Avionics it could have had and in some views should have had, the aircraft itself had known issues that challenged it being declared air worthy, and that there was a huge miscarriage of justice when the RAF Management both attempted to cover all that up and did so by trying to laid sole blame upon the Pilots.
Coming along later with all this supposition with scant knowledge of the facts and putting forth as having any relation to what happened that day is a bit presumptuous in my view.
How many times by how many people must you hear that before you understand that?
Yes, I do read your posts. This is a public forum and thus any discussion is open to all and sundry.
Hate that as you might, you will just have to deal with it.