Chinook campaigners 'extremely disappointed' as court blocks their legal action against MoD
Campaigners want to see their legal challenge against the Ministry of Defence continue.
The families of those killed in the 1994 Chinook disaster say they are “extremely disappointed” and “deeply upset” after the High Court said they cannot continue their legal challenge against the Ministry of Defence.
The campaigners are now challenging Andy Burnham, who is expected to be announced as the new Prime Minister later this week, to apply the Hillsborough Law to their case.
They also say they are now planning to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
All 29 serving military personnel aboard the Chinook HC-2 helicopter died after it crashed into the Mull of Kintyre in 1994. It had been transporting 25 intelligence experts and four special crew from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George in the Highlands.
The crash, which has been described as the “RAF’s worst peacetime disaster”, was initially blamed on pilot error, but a 2011 inquiry found this was incorrect.
The campaign group said the MoD’s “ongoing failure” to conduct an “independent and effective investigation” into the crash was a breach of human rights, and took their legal action to the High Court in London on Tuesday.
They said the legal challenge should be allowed to continue as information regarding the Chinook’s airworthiness “raises a more than arguable claim that … those individuals who died in the crash were placed on an aircraft known to be unsafe”.
However, the MoD argued the challenge had been brought to the courts too late, and Justice Butcher agreed and blocked the case from proceeding.
In his ruling, he said: “It is right to say at the outset that the crash of the Chinook with the loss of 29 lives was a tragedy of a dimension which it is difficult to describe.
“The pain of bereavement and the agony of loss of the families and friends of those who perished remains, I have no doubt, enduring and bitter.
“My task today, however, is to apply the recognised legal tests to the particular type of claim that the claimant seeks to make.”
He said “cogent grounds” would be needed to justify a claim being allowed to proceed 14 years after a review, but said: “No such grounds have been shown.”
Andy Tobias, whose father Lieutenant Colonel John Tobias MBE died in the crash, said: “We are extremely disappointed by the decision, deeply upset at being refused on a technicality, but firmly united in continuing to seek the truth.
“The judge didn’t seem to appreciate how difficult it was for families who didn’t know each other and who were kept apart by the MoD following the crash, to uncover the cover up - which took external technical expertise and investigative reporting.
“How long should families be given to uncover lies? Today’s decision is an absolute travesty of justice and we are downhearted but not defeated - we will continue our fight for the truth, and we will never give up.”
Jenni Balmer-Hornby, whose father Anthony was killed in the crash, added: “All we are asking for is the truth.
“The MoD still needs to answer the question about why my dad and 28 others were placed on a helicopter which was known to be unairworthy and which was described as positively dangerous by its own test engineers and test pilots.”
The families who make up the campaign group, many of whom were in the High Court on Tuesday, now say the new Prime Minister must order a fresh review into the crash.
Mr Tobias added: “Today, we challenge Andy Burnham, the incoming Prime Minister, who has built his reputation fighting for Hillsborough families and championing a statutory duty of candour, to order a fresh review without further delay.
“He has the power and we urge him to swiftly extend the principles of Hillsborough Law to the Chinook families.
“For a government which claims to be committed to Hillsborough Law - which ironically is being approved by MPs in Westminster today just a few miles away - the lack of candour on show in the court today by government lawyers was absolutely sickening.
“We do not believe bereaved families should be denied the opportunity to seek justice simply because they were unaware that crucial information has been withheld from them.”
Mr Tobias said the Chinook Justice Campaign group’s legal team are “pursuing every remaining legal avenue”, including taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
The campaign group say the crash happened just days after the “fraught upgrade and introduction” of the helicopter, and said the MoD was suing Boeing over the upgrade before the crash happened.
Sam Jacobs from the campaign group added the engine control system on the helicopter was described as having a “density of deficiencies”, and one of the engines needed to be replaced three times in the months leading up to the fatal accident, alongside issues reported on the second engine.
Mr Jacobs said: “It is plainly arguable that airworthiness caused the crash - indeed, arguable that the HC-2 should not have been flying at all.”
Former defence secretary Sir Liam Fox said he will send a new letter to Mr Burnham ordering a fresh review into the crash.
Mark Stephens, a solicitor for the families, said: “Justice delayed should not become justice denied.
“The state holds the records, the families live with the consequences, yet the court has ruled that the door to judicial review is now closed because too much time has passed.
“He obviously felt constrained by the law, and the Prime Minister can rectify that with a swift decision.
“If our laws are unable to provide an effective remedy, the families - just like the Hillsborough families - will not give up and we will take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
“The quest for justice and accountability does not end with today’s decision.”
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