"Beyond comprehension": Wiltshire man to continue Chinook Justice fight
Niven Phoenix lost his dad in the 1994 Mull of Kintyre disaster
A Wiltshire man who lost his dad in the 1994 Mull of Kintyre disaster says the fact that a cover up is escaping scrutiny is "beyond comprehension".
Niven Phoenix's dad, Detective Inspector Ian Phoenix, was among 29 who died in the tragedy when an RAF Chinook helicopter crashed whilst flying in foggy conditions.
It has since been discovered that the aircraft was unfit to fly, but the High Court this week ruled that revelation had been found too late for a public inquiry to be commissioned.
Niven told Greatest Hits Radio said the families of the Chinook Justice Campaign (CJC) are "upset, horrified and disgusted" by the decision.
"It's morally indefensible," he said. "Everyone is trying to block our case in court by claiming we took too long to uncover a cover up.
"That's precisely the same situation as the Hillsborough families, the nuclear families and the post office families."
"This isn't the end"
The CJC is now going to the European Court of Human Rights to seek the inquiry it wants, with families vowing to keep fighting for justice.
Niven said: "This is certainly not where the campaign is going to end. It is just another bump in the road. This campaign has been running for decades and we have tried at various junctures to get people to listen to us."
There is also hope that incoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, could grant the inquiry as he takes office. Mr Burnham has mentioned the campaign since his return to Parliament, which is giving Niven hope.
"We sincerely hope that his actions follow his words, because it is within the gift of the incoming Prime Minister to give us an inquiry. And it does not need to be a full-blown public inquiry.
"It just needs to be an inquiry to look at the papers that we have, and it has to be independent of the MOD, and it needs to be able to compel witnesses to come forward and get access to information which has been locked up for years."
Hillsborough Law could play major role
The Hillsborough Law, which would compel public authorities and officials to be candid, transparent and frank, in an effort to avoid cover ups of failures connected to the state, is continuing to move through Parliament on its way to becoming law.
Niven tells us that it will have a massive influence on their case.
"It is designed specifically for cases like ours where we are running into not just issues with MOD, but also issues with the British legal system. We are in exactly the same position as Hillsborough Law. We are now being forced due to inadequacies of the British justice system into the European Court of Human Rights to point out a flaw in the British justice system."
He insists that their case has merit, based on the non-airworthiness of the aircraft, which had been grounded by flight and test pilots on the day of the crash.
Niven added: "The testing and evaluation centre had pleaded with the RAF not to fly it and it was being flown with a level of risk that was not communicated to the crews and certainly not to the passengers. And how that can be allowed to escape scrutiny is beyond my comprehension.
"But the MOD seem to think it's perfectly reasonable to prevaricate and obfuscate and prevent justice in this case to avoid any accountability on their part. and the Hillsborough law now act coming into place will be instrumental in calling them to account and holding them to the light.
An MOD Spokesperson said: “Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends, and colleagues of all those who died in the Mull of Kintyre crash.
“The MOD continues to engage with the Chinook Justice Campaign (CJC) throughout this process. Defence Ministers have met with Campaign representatives to listen to their concerns, and the CJC also met with the Ministry of Justice Victims Minister in March 2026.
"The CJC submitted a formal claim for Judicial Review in September 2025, and the MOD is focused on responding fully to that claim and to the allegations it contains. We will not be offering comment on issues that are being considered as part of that independent process.”