Thousands sign petition seeking truth about Mull of Kintyre Chinook helicopter disaster
A petition demanding answers about the Chinook disaster, which took 29 lives over three decades ago, has been signed by tens of thousands of individuals.
The crash of RAF Chinook ZD576 helicopter on the Mull of Kintyre in western Scotland resulted in the deaths of 25 top intelligence experts and four special forces crew members. The helicopter was en route from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George near Inverness in June 1994. Initially, the incident was attributed to pilot error, a decision that was subsequently reversed in 2011.
Last year, the BBC aired a documentary titled 'Chinook: Zulu Delta 576' investigating the tragedy, revealing that related files had been sealed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a century.
In the wake of the crash, the victims' families were left heartbroken and have since accused the MoD of a 'cover-up', demanding the release of all documents and a judge-led public inquiry into the incident, reports the Express.
They are calling on the UK Government to impose a legal 'duty of candour' on all public bodies to ensure "no family has to ever battle for the truth again".
"Twenty-nine people boarded Chinook ZD576 on 2 June 1994, all of them died," reads the petition, which has garnered over 25,000 signatures. "31 years later, we - their families - still have no answers. We have been denied truth, transparency and justice by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
"Our loved ones were forced to board an RAF helicopter with fatal software flaws that MoD test engineers had deemed 'positively dangerous' and 'not to be relied upon in any way whatsoever'.
"We know key evidence was withheld or ignored in previous investigations. Former ministers say they were misled by the MoD and doubt airworthiness issues were investigated properly."
The BBC has chosen to broadcast the documentary again this month, a move that has been praised by the families, with the opening episode screening this Sunday (August 17) at 9pm on BBC 2, followed by the second instalment a week afterwards.
Family members have established The Chinook Justice Campaign and continue to call for openness from the MoD.
Esme Sparks, whose father Major Gary Sparks perished in the tragedy, urged additional backing for the petition to stop future instances of "secrecy and wrongdoing".
In response, an MoD spokesman said: "The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident, and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died.
"The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review.
"The closed records held at The National Archives contain personal information relating to third-party individuals. The early release of this information would breach those individuals' data protection rights."
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