Chinook families to launch legal action against MoD

Families of those killed in an RAF Chinook helicopter crash in 1994 have said they are launching legal action against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for not ordering a public inquiry.

Four crew and 25 engers were killed when the helicopter went down in foggy conditions over the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland.

The helicopter was carrying leading security personnel from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to a conference at Fort George near Inverness.

The families of the victims want a High Court judge to review information which they say was not included in previous investigations. They believe it will offer new information on the airworthiness of the helicopter.

All 25 engers - made up of personnel from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Army - were killed, along with the helicopter's four crew.

The families of the victims, who have formed the Chinook Justice Campaign, said failing to order a public inquiry is a breach of the UK government's human rights obligations.

In a letter to the government, the group said: "The investigations conducted to date, whether considered individually or in combination, have failed to discharge the investigative duty."

Thirty-one years after, the group have also called for the release of documents that were sealed at the time of the crash for 100 years, as revealed in a BBC documentary last year.

The solicitor representing the families said there is enough evidence to convince the families that there was "a failure by the MoD to apply appropriate safeguards in order to protect the engers and crew".

Solicitor Mark Stephens added: "In fact, they were put on board an aircraft that was known to be positively dangerous and should never have taken off.

"That is why we are seeking a judicial review into the government's failure to hold a public inquiry - which the families have sought for more than a year."

After the crash, pilots Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were accused of gross negligence, but this verdict was overturned by the UK government 17 years later.

A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out "numerous concerns" raised by those who worked on the Chinooks.

The MoD's testing centre at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire declared the Chinook Mk2 helicopters "unairworthy" prior to the crash.

Esme Sparks, who was seven years old when her father Major Gary Sparks lost his life, said: "We don't want to have to take legal action against the government and MoD but we do want and need answers surrounding the circumstance of this crash.

"We want to know who or what is being protected? Who made the decision to let this helicopter take off? What is being hidden? In our view, a public inquiry is key."

The MoD said that records held in The National Archives contain personal information and early release of those documents would breach their data protection rights.

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."