Watford man calls for PM Andy Burnham to meet bereaved Chinook crash families
Families want a fresh independent review into the 1994 RAF Chinook disaster
A man from Watford is among the families of those killed in the RAF Chinook crash who are urgeing Prime Minister Andy Burnham to meet them within his first 100 days in office and order a fresh, independent review into the 1994 tragedy.
While the 2011 Mull of Kintyre inquiry overturned an initial decision to blame the pilots, it did not determine the cause of the crash.
A High Court judge ruled this month that the families of several victims of the crash could not bring a legal claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over the incident, because the claim had been brought too late.
Twenty-nine serving military personnel died when the Chinook HC-2 helicopter crashed into the Mull of Kintyre in south-west Scotland on June 2 1994 during a flight from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland.
Andy Tobias from Watford, son of Lieutenant Colonel John Tobias who was killed in the crash, said “we deserve the truth and we want the MoD to take accountability for the faults and the mistakes that were made 32 years ago”.
Mr Tobias told Greatest Hits Radio: “We're all still grieving. You can't really grieve if you don't know why your father was made to board an aircraft that was not airworthy.
“The only way that we feel we can get any sort of closure is having the Ministry of Defence take accountability for the mistakes that were made.
“We feel Andy Burnham can play a really key part in doing that”, he adds.
The Chinook Justice Campaign (CJC), which is made up of more than 55 family members of 25 of the victims, sought to challenge the MoD’s “ongoing failure” to set up an “independent and effective investigation” into the crash.
The CJC legal team has said it is considering taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights, and wants Mr Burnham to establish a fresh review, independent of the Ministry of Defence.
They want full access to all relevant documents relating to the airworthiness of the Chinook Mk2 helicopter and the circumstances leading up to the crash.
A spokesperson for the MoD said: “Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends, and colleagues of all those who died in the Mull of Kintyre crash.
“We understand the recent court judgment will be disappointing for those involved. Defence Ministers have previously met with the CJC and we will continue to engage to hear concerns and discuss this important matter.”