LONDON – British defence secretary Liam Fox told parliament yesterday that an independent review into the Mull of Kintyre helicopter crash had cleared the pilots of gross negligence and recommended that the Ministry of Defence apologise to their families.
The review into the 1994 crash, led by former Scottish judge Lord Philip, also recommended changes to transport arrangements across the military to ensure individuals whose roles are vital to national security do not travel on the same vehicle.
The Chinook helicopter crash in Scotland killed 29 people, including pilots Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cook, who were blamed for the accident, and 25 of Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism experts from Northern Ireland.
The families of Flight Lieut Tapper and Flight Lieut Cook and many politicians, including former Conservative party prime minister John Major, have campaigned for the pilots to be declared innocent for years.
“In this case, other, competent, persons did have doubts. That is sufficient to warrant the conclusion that the findings should not stand,” Dr Fox said.
He added that the review said no exact cause of the crash would ever be pinpointed and highlighted the safety record of the Chinook since the crash.
Dr Fox said he had written to the families of the pilots to apologise on behalf of the ministry for the distress the findings of negligence had caused.
Leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster Angus Robertson said: “Given that, even before Lord Philip’s review, the initial RAF internal findings, the fatal accident inquiry, and a House of Lords report all concluded that there was no evidence the pilots were to blame, it should never have taken this long to put things right.” – (Reuters, PA)