Chinook crash pilots cleared of negligence

Defence Secretary Liam Fox apologised to the families of Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cook, after a report by retired judge Lord Philip recommended the overturning of a controversial earlier finding of negligence in what was the RAF's worst peacetime accident.

The minister in a Commons statement to MPs yesterday saidhe had "set aside" the original official Ministry of Defence report into the cause of the June 1994 crash, which said the two pilots had flown too fast and too low on the Mull of Kintyre.

However, Dr Fox said the report also revealed that one of the pilots had raised concerns that he was "unprepared" to fly the helicopter.

Chris Cook, the brother of Flt Lt Cook, said there had never been any evidence to find the pilots at fault and said his father John, before his death in 2005, had urged him to "keep fighting" to clear the name of his son.

Mr Cook said: "His last words to me were on this case and for me to keep fighting. He maintained that justice had no expiry date.

"The reputations of these two young officers have been restored and we feel a dreadful wrong has been righted."

Mike Tapper, father of Flt Lt Tapper, speaking after yesterday's announcement, said his wife Hazel had also died before seeing justice done for her son.

He said: "This is closure. (Hazel] had Parkinson's disease but never gave up the fight to clear Jonathan's name."

Mr Tapper, asked whether the two Air Vice-Marshals who had insisted the pilots were guilty of negligence in the initial inquiry should now apologise, said: "It's up to the Air Vice-Marshals."

He said there were "some very wooden-headed people around", when asked about the 17 years it had taken to clear his son.

But the Defence Secretary told MPs that in the latest investigation Lord Philip had discovered that Chinook pilot Flt Lt Tapper had phoned his deputy flight commander Flt Lt Cook the night before the crash to express his concerns about flying the helicopter.

Dr Fox quoted from Lord Philip's report: "We were told that Flt Lt Tapper telephoned his deputy flight commander on the evening before the delivery of ZD 576 to Northern Ireland expressing concern that some time had passed since his conversion training.He felt unprepared to fly the aircraft.

"He had attempted to persuade the tasking authority to spread the load between more than one aircraft, but his request had been refused."

Dr Fox confirmed that he had written to the families of the pilots to apologise for the "distress" caused during what he described as a "very sad chapter", after Lord Philip's report recommended considering an apology.

He said: "I have written to the widows of the two pilots, to the father of Jonathan Tapper and to the brother of Richard Cook to express the Ministry of Defence's apology for the distress which was caused to them by the findings of negligence. I also wish to express that apology publicly in this House today."

The Defence Secretary said the findings would remove the "stain on the reputations" of Flt Lt Tapper and Flt Lt Cook, although he said the report made clear that the disaster's "exact cause will never be established".

Dr Fox dismissed the possibility or reopening an inquiry into the disaster and said he hoped the inquiry would be the end of the controversy surrounding the deaths of the 29 people on board the helicopter. The passengers, who included 25 of Britain's most senior intelligence experts and four crew members, were flying from Belfast to attend a conference in Inverness.

Dr Fox said: "I hope that this report, and the action I have taken in response to it, will bring an end to this very sad chapter by removing the stain on the reputations of the two pilots.

"I'm convinced that pursuing the matter further would serve only to increase the distress of the families and friends of those who died in the accident.

"Those who allege a long-running conspiracy to cover up technical shortcomings in this aircraft will find no support here. The Chinook has had an excellent safety record since the disaster in the Mull."

Lord Philip's inquiry also recommended changes to transport arrangements across the military to ensure individuals whose roles are vital to national security do not travel in the same vehicle.

Campaigners have spent almost two decades trying to overturn the decision to blame Flt Lt Tapper, from Norfolk, and Flt Lt Cook, from Hampshire, for the crash.

The family's solicitor Peter Watson, said: "The initial Board of Inquiry findings were ordered to be altered by senior officers who had not taken part in the inquiry. Many will find this extraordinary.

"The version of the Chinook which crashed had been newly introduced to service and had suffered many technical problems. Indeed, the RAF themselves pursued claims for compensation arising from faults.

"Those who ordered a finding of gross negligence have now been shown to have acted wrongly."