An interesting topic, the AAIB evidence being used in court.
I know of one case where the AAIB almost certainly came to an incorrect conclusion regarding the cause of a fatal accident involving an aerobatic biplane.
The accident was of direct interest to me because the deceased was a friend of mine and I had flown in the actual aircraft (in the same seat as himself) on the flight immediately previous to the accident. It occurred over the same area, carrying out the same type of aerobatic manoeuvres....with the subsequent deceased pilot in the other seat. I was also at the departure airfield waiting for the aircraft to return - which it never did.
I later spoke at length with the badly injured, second occupant of the aircraft. This person told me precisely what had happened and how control of the aircraft had been lost. The conclusion of the AAIB was quite different to what I was told.
Last edited by ShyTorque; 8th Apr 2016 at 17:21.