Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash pilots to be cleared in report

AN OFFICIAL review into the Chinook helicopter crash in Scotland concludes the two dead pilots should not have been blamed, the BBC reported last night.

Twenty-nine people died on the flight from Belfast to Inverness when it crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994.

The independent report, chaired by retired judge Lord Philip, is expected to say the pilots should not have been accused of gross negligence.

In what was the RAF's worst peacetime accident, the Chinook carrying 25 of Britain's most senior intelligence experts and four crew crashed in thick fog, killing all on board. Over nearly two decades, campaigners have sought to have Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cook cleared of blame, but successive defence secretaries have refused to overturn the findings of two RAF Air Marshals.

The two pilots were blamed for gross negligence but the conclusions have been disputed by campaigners ever since.

After a nine-month inquiry, Philip's recommendations have now been submitted to Defence secretary Liam Fox, who is due to make a statement to MPs next week on the findings.