Inquiry into Chinook helicopter crash resumes

An inquiry into the Chinook helicopter crash that killed some of Britain's most senior Northern Ireland intelligence experts …

An inquiry into the Chinook helicopter crash that killed some of Britain's most senior Northern Ireland intelligence experts resumes in the House of Lords today.

Two pilots, two airload-masters and 25 senior police and intelligence officers were killed in the tragedy in the Mull of Kintyre in 1994.

A House of Lords Select Committee is examining the justification of the RAF Board of Inquiry's finding of negligence against the pilots. The five-man House of Lords committee is expected to report early next year.

A seven-year campaign to re-open the investigation led to the setting up of the inquiry in April this year. A number of expert reports have indicated conclusive blame for the accident could not be attributed.

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Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper were found guilty of gross negligence by an RAF Board of Inquiry after their Chinook Mark 2 helicopter crashed on its sortie from Northern Ireland to Scotland in June 1994.

Last month, the inquiry heard the father of one of the pilots blamed for the RAF's worst peacetime disaster speak of his son's grave concerns over the reliability of the helicopter.

Mr John Cook, father of Flight Lieut Cook, said when his son was told he was being sent to Northern Ireland to fly the Mark 2 he asked him to look after his wife and daughter.

"He came and said he was going to Northern Ireland and they were going to send a Mark 2. He asked us to look after Sara and Eleanor. He said: 'Dad, the aircraft isn't ready and we are not ready'."

Additional reporting PA