New inquiry into Chinook crash that killed 29

Published on Wednesday 28 July 2010 15:59

CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed a fresh inquiry into the RAF Chinook helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre.

The two pilots were blamed for the crash in 1994, when all 29 people on board the helicopter were killed.

However, the MoD has confirmed that there will be an "independent review of the evidence" surrounding the case.

Last night it was reported that retired judge Lord Alexander Philip would head-up the new inquiry into the worst RAF helicopter accident in peacetime, which happened en route from Northern Ireland to Inverness.

The new probe into the crash, which claimed the lives of senior police, army and MI5 officers, is expected to take around four months.

An initial RAF inquiry ruled that the pilots, Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper, 28, and Richard Cook, 30, were guilty of "gross negligence" for flying too low and too fast in thick fog.

The families of the men and politicians have long campaigned to have the ruling overturned.

SNP Defence spokesman at Westminster Angus Robertson said he hoped that the new inquiry would be a chance to clear the names of the two men, who he said had their reputations "seriously undermined" by the initial findings.

Mr Robertson, who is his party's leader at Westminster, said: "I have long shared the view of the families of the air crew that there should be a full inquiry.

"If that is now to happen I very much welcome it.

"The reputation of the air crew was seriously undermined by the earlier findings.

"Good evidence exists which must now be considered in the new inquiry."

The news of the inquiry, which is likely to take place in private, marks the latest stage in a long saga surrounding the crash.

A fatal accident inquiry held in Scotland in 1996 concluded that it was unable to determine the cause of the tragedy.

Iain Henderson, the Campbeltown procurator-fiscal charged with investigating for an FAI, claimed defence officials tried to block his inquiry.

The RAF's conclusions were also challenged in two reviews held in the House of Commons, but the MoD has refused to exonerate the two men.

In March, when the new evidence was made public, the Conservatives called for the MoD to quash the verdicts against the two pilots.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, defence secretary at the time of the crash, claimed he had been kept in the dark about the possible faults. He said the new evidence meant the findings against the two pilots were "unsustainable"

An internal MoD document, which was written nine months before the crash, warned that the helicopter software was "positively dangerous".

The father of one of the pilots previously claimed that his son had been effectively forced to fly the aircraft in spite of these concerns

Mike Tapper said: "He was very concerned: I think the whole squadron was very concerned indeed."

Liberal Democrat MP Sir Menzies Campbell has described the criticism of the pilots as an "injustice" and welcomed the inquiry as an opportunity "to put this right".