Darlington woman welcomes first Chinook ministerial meeting in 31 years
29 people died when the helicopter came down at the Mull of Kintyre in 1994
The historic first ministerial meeting in 31 years about the Chinook disaster is being welcomed by a Darlington woman who lost her dad.
29 people died when the helicopter came down at the Mull of Kintyre in June 1994.
Members of the Chinook Justice Campaign have today published 225 new safety critical questions on the circumstances leading up to the crash, bringing the total of 335.
Tomorrow, they will be meeting Lord Coaker, Minister of State for Defence, Al Carns, Minister for the Armed Forces and Louise Sandher-Jones MP, Minister for Veterans and People, for the first time in 31 years.
The families say the new questions make it impossible for ministers to keep claiming nothing new could emerge from the judge-led inquiry they are seeking.
David Hill, former MoD aeronautical engineer and technical advisor to the Chinook Justice Campaign, who has studied the case for the past 31 years, said: “These 225 new questions destroy the argument that there is nothing left to uncover.
“Together with the original 110, they expose how essential evidence was concealed from previous inquiries and demonstrate that the Ministry of Defence has never provided full transparency into the circumstances that led to the deaths of 25 senior intelligence experts and four Special Forces crew.
“The suggestion that no new facts will be uncovered is a deliberate misrepresentation to cover up past wrongdoing. Only a judge-led public inquiry has the powers to compel testimony, access sealed documents and finally establish why 29 people were put on an unairworthy aircraft their own test pilots and engineers were forbidden from flying.”
The MoD repeatedly insists that no new evidence will be uncovered by a new inquiry and that previous inquiries are sufficient.
The 335 unanswered questions, many based on leaked MoD technical files, internal memos and assessments, and expert analysis demonstrate that the crucial details of how and why the aircraft was authorised remain hidden, including:
• Who authorised the mission and at what level decisions were taken?
• Why was the unairworthy Chinook Mark 2 chosen for the journey, instead of two Puma helicopters originally tasked for the trip, despite repeated warnings from test pilots and engineers that the Mark 2 was “not to be relied upon in any way whatsoever”.
• Why key technical documents including the 1992 Chinook Airworthiness Review Team (CHART) report was withheld from multiple inquiries and former Defence Secretary Liam Fox misled?
• Why the aircraft was accepted off contract without certification, breaching MoD rules?
• Whether the crew or passengers were informed of the risks?
Northern Ireland Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood, who will join the families at the meeting, said: “If the promise of candour is real, it starts here. Ministers cannot keep repeating the same lines while refusing to answer the families’ questions. A judge-led inquiry and full access to sealed files is the only way to honour those who died and the families who have fought for them.”
The Chinook families are calling on the Prime Minister, with whom they want a face-to-face meeting, to:
• Over-rule the MoD and reverse the decision to block a public inquiry
• Grant access to ALL files on the Chinook Mark 2 and crash, including those sealed until 2094
• Make the Chinook crash the test case for the new Hillsborough Law, officially the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.
The families are still awaiting a decision by the High Court on their application for a Judicial Review of the government’s failure to order a public inquiry under Article 2 of the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to life.
Mark Stephens, from Howard Kennedy LLP, lawyer for the families, said: “It’s now time for ministers, the Ministry of Defence and the UK Government to step up and to stop standing in the way of a judge-led public inquiry.
“Many of the families are suffering from ambiguous loss – a frozen trauma caused by the failure of the MoD to be transparent about the circumstances surrounding the crash. They seek truth, transparency and a clear commitment to a full, independent public inquiry into why their loved ones were placed on an unairworthy aircraft.”
An MOD spokesperson said:
“The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident, and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died. We understand that the lack of certainty about the cause of the crash has added to the distress of the families.
“The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review. Lord Coaker, Minister of State for Defence, Al Carns, Minister for the Armed Forces and Louise Sandher-Jones MP, Minister for Veterans and People, will be meeting with representatives from the Chinook Justice Campaign before the end of the year, to listen to their concerns first hand.
“We have now received the Chinook Justice Campaign’s formal claim for a Judicial Review of our decision to reject the demand for a judge-led inquiry into the circumstances of the crash. Our focus is on responding to that claim and to the allegations contained within it and we are unable to comment further at this time."