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Petition gets filed to urge for investigation into 1994 Chinook crash
(MENAFN) More than three decades after a Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland, killing 25 intelligence personnel and four special forces crew on 2 June 1994, families of the victims are calling for a full public inquiry.
Initially, the disaster was attributed to pilot error, a conclusion that was overturned in 2011. The Chinook Justice Campaign has now compiled 110 “critical questions” surrounding the crash and gathered over 47,000 signatures on a petition demanding a judge-led investigation.
Campaigners plan to submit the petition to Downing Street on Tuesday, accompanied by a letter to the Ministry of Defence, urging transparency and accountability. As stated by reports, they have expressed determination to pursue legal action if their demands are not met.
Niven Phoenix, whose father died in the incident, said that 31 years later, families still had “110 questions but zero answers.” Speaking to local media, he highlighted the campaign’s hope of achieving a formal, judge-led inquiry.
“If they don't do this as a public body and exercise duty of candour, what's to prevent it from happening again,” he remarked.
Phoenix also alleged a “machiavellian cover-up” and criticized the fact that those responsible had not been held accountable. Reflecting on his upbringing in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, he said he “half expected” danger to his father, who served in the special branch, but that the fatal crash due to “the incompetence of senior officers” in the RAF and MOD “blindsided” him.
He added: “That led to this sense of ambiguity to this loss. There is a duty of care expected, and it just wasn't provided. My father and his colleagues were all about protection of life and why was that same protection not offered to them?”
The campaign underscores ongoing calls for transparency and scrutiny of historical military and intelligence failures, emphasizing the need to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Initially, the disaster was attributed to pilot error, a conclusion that was overturned in 2011. The Chinook Justice Campaign has now compiled 110 “critical questions” surrounding the crash and gathered over 47,000 signatures on a petition demanding a judge-led investigation.
Campaigners plan to submit the petition to Downing Street on Tuesday, accompanied by a letter to the Ministry of Defence, urging transparency and accountability. As stated by reports, they have expressed determination to pursue legal action if their demands are not met.
Niven Phoenix, whose father died in the incident, said that 31 years later, families still had “110 questions but zero answers.” Speaking to local media, he highlighted the campaign’s hope of achieving a formal, judge-led inquiry.
“If they don't do this as a public body and exercise duty of candour, what's to prevent it from happening again,” he remarked.
Phoenix also alleged a “machiavellian cover-up” and criticized the fact that those responsible had not been held accountable. Reflecting on his upbringing in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, he said he “half expected” danger to his father, who served in the special branch, but that the fatal crash due to “the incompetence of senior officers” in the RAF and MOD “blindsided” him.
He added: “That led to this sense of ambiguity to this loss. There is a duty of care expected, and it just wasn't provided. My father and his colleagues were all about protection of life and why was that same protection not offered to them?”
The campaign underscores ongoing calls for transparency and scrutiny of historical military and intelligence failures, emphasizing the need to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
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