Latest news with #MullofKintyre
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Son of Scottish helicopter crash victim still seeking answers after visiting site
The son of a victim of the RAF 1994 Chinook helicopter crash is calling on the Prime Minister to intervene and allow a public inquiry after visiting the site of the disaster. RAF Chinook ZD576 was carrying 25 British intelligence personnel from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to a conference at Fort George near Inverness when it crashed in foggy weather on June 2 1994 on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. All 25 passengers - made up of personnel from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army - were killed, along with the helicopter's four crew members. Joel Hornby, whose father, Major Anthony Hornby, was one of the victims, visited a memorial cairn at the crash site on Saturday and again on Sunday. He and other families have said they will press on with seeking a judicial review after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) dismissed their demands for a judge-led public inquiry into the incident, and have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asking him to intervene. READ MORE: Fiona Phillips' says Alzheimer's symptom led to 'secret split from husband' READ MORE: BBC newsreader George Alagiah left wife and family tiny sum of money in will Mr Hornby, who was seven when his father died, visited the site with his one-year-old son and laid a wreath at the cairn along with a note which read "Dad, we are still fighting for you". Speaking afterwards Mr Hornby, who lives in Berlin in Germany, said: "We, the families of those lost, have still been denied answers over 30 years on. Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox "The MoD has rejected our request for a full judge-led public inquiry, and furthermore, has sealed documents relating to the crash for 100 years. We are requesting that the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer live up to his promises on duty of candour and overrule the MoD's decision." He has also urged people to sign a petition calling on the Prime Minister to overturn the MoD decision and release the documents. Following the crash, the Chinook's pilots, Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were accused of gross negligence, but this verdict was overturned by the UK Government 17 years later following a campaign by the families. A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out "numerous concerns" raised by those who worked on the Chinooks, with the MoD's testing centre at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire declaring the Chinook Mk2 helicopters "unairworthy" prior to the crash. In a statement after the calls made by the families on Friday an MoD spokesperson 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. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. "We understand that the lack of certainty about the cause of the crash has added to the distress of the families. We provided a detailed and considered response to the pre-action protocol letter stating the reasons why we cannot accept the demand for establishing a new public inquiry. "It's unlikely that a public inquiry would identify any new evidence or reach new conclusions on the basis of existing evidence. The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review." The MoD did not wish to make further comment on Sunday.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Son of Chinook 1994 helicopter crash victim visits memorial and asks for answers
The son of a victim of the RAF 1994 Chinook helicopter crash is calling on the Prime Minister to intervene and allow a public inquiry after visiting the site of the disaster. RAF Chinook ZD576 was carrying 25 British intelligence personnel from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to a conference at Fort George near Inverness when it crashed in foggy weather on June 2 1994 on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. All 25 passengers – made up of personnel from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army – were killed, along with the helicopter's four crew members. Joel Hornby, whose father Major Anthony Hornby was one of the victims, visited a memorial cairn at the crash site on Saturday and again on Sunday. He and other families have said they will press on with seeking a judicial review after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) dismissed their demands for a judge-led public inquiry into the incident, and have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asking him to intervene. Mr Hornby, who was seven when his father died, visited the site with his one-year-old son and laid a wreath at the cairn along with a note which read 'Dad, we are still fighting for you'. Speaking afterwards Mr Hornby, who lives in Berlin in Germany, said: 'We, the families of those lost, have still been denied answers over 30 years on. 'The MoD has rejected our request for a full judge-led public inquiry, and furthermore, has sealed documents relating to the crash for 100 years. 'We are requesting that the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer live up to his promises on duty of candour and overrule the MoD's decision.' He has also urged people to sign a petition calling on the Prime Minister to overturn the MoD decision and release the documents. Following the crash, the Chinook's pilots, Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were accused of gross negligence, but this verdict was overturned by the UK Government 17 years later following a campaign by the families. A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out 'numerous concerns' raised by those who worked on the Chinooks, with the MoD's testing centre at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire declaring the Chinook Mk2 helicopters 'unairworthy' prior to the crash. In a statement after the calls made by the families on Friday an MoD spokesperson 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. 'We understand that the lack of certainty about the cause of the crash has added to the distress of the families. 'We provided a detailed and considered response to the pre-action protocol letter stating the reasons why we cannot accept the demand for establishing a new public inquiry. 'It's unlikely that a public inquiry would identify any new evidence or reach new conclusions on the basis of existing evidence. 'The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review.' The MoD has been asked if it wishes to make further comment.
The Independent
04-07-2025
- The Independent
Chinook 1994 helicopter crash families criticise MoD for ‘losing moral compass'
Families of the victims of the 1994 RAF Chinook crash have hit out at the Ministry of Defence for refusing a public inquiry into the incident and sealing key documents for 100 years. Relatives of the 29 victims who died on the aircraft have written to the Prime Minister to demand a full, independent, judge-led public inquiry to establish the truth into the disaster, accusing the MoD of 'losing its moral compass'. RAF Chinook ZD576 crashed on the Mull of Kintyre on its way from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George in Scotland, and all 25 passengers and four crew members were killed in the incident. A verdict of gross negligence against the pilots, flight lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, from a review into the incident by two senior RAF officers in 1995 was overturned by the Government in 2011 after a 16-year campaign by the families. Relatives have now written to the Prime Minister to intervene and are seeking a judicial review in the High Court. Chris Cook, whose brother Richard was one of the pilots killed in the disaster, said: 'In the BBC documentary that was shown early last year, what came to light was that the official documents to do with the accident have been sealed for 100 years by the Ministry of Defence. 'We weren't aware of that. There was news to me when I watched the programme. 'And so it seems rather suspicious to us that the documents are going to be locked away for such a long time.' He added: 'We campaigned for 16 years to clear the pilots' names and so many times we were given indications that information didn't exist. 'Based on the experience we had in our campaign, they wanted us to go away – simple as that. 'But my late father always said justice has no expiry dates. 'Sadly, he passed away before we cleared Rick's name. 'He never got to see that, he died six years beforehand. 'But those words mean an awful lot, it means don't give up. 'You know if you think that an injustice is being done, you keep fighting for it.' Mr Cook says there are 47 individuals that lost their fathers in the crash, most of whom were children and some not yet born, who have lived their whole lives without answers. Jenni Balmer Hornby, daughter of Anthony Hornby who was killed in the disaster, said: 'It was a week before my 10th birthday when the crash happened and so obviously I wasn't old enough to go to any of the earlier inquiries, but my mum went to those. 'For some time she felt that it was an accident because of these inquiries. 'But now we know that the full information wasn't given, so we know over time that these inquiries were completely ineffective. 'I think it's very clear to myself and everyone in the campaign that the MoD have lost their moral compass – I'm so certain now that the MoD is hiding something. 'I can't go another 31 years not knowing what happened to my father. 'Him and his colleagues risk their life for their country and in return, we have just been dismissed and fed lies for three decades and we all deserve a lot better.' Andy Tobias, who was just eight when his father John Tobias went on board RAF Chinook ZD576, has branded the response from the MoD as a 'betrayal'. He said: '(It's been) really tough. 'My brother and myself have not had a father, he's not been around to direct us through the challenges that you face in life. 'You never get over it but you learn to live with it. 'For us, the MoD have really let us down as families. 'It's been a complete betrayal to all of those men who boarded that flight and gave their life and service. 'If my father knew that his family were fighting so hard to get answers and to get the truth, he would be turning in his grave. Sue Sparks, whose husband Gary was killed in the crash, said: 'I think it would give us closure. 'Over the 30 years, we were led to believe it was an accident, which it wasn't. 'It could have been prevented. 'The helicopter was declared unairworthy and they were made to fly in it. 'It makes us feel angry and not treated properly by the MoD. 'As a war widow, I feel very, very let down by the Government and the MoD.'
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
Chinook 1994 helicopter crash families criticise MoD for ‘losing moral compass'
Families of the victims of the 1994 RAF Chinook crash have hit out at the Ministry of Defence for refusing a public inquiry into the incident and sealing key documents for 100 years. Relatives of the 29 victims who died on the aircraft have written to the Prime Minister to demand a full, independent, judge-led public inquiry to establish the truth into the disaster, accusing the MoD of 'losing its moral compass'. RAF Chinook ZD576 crashed on the Mull of Kintyre on its way from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George in Scotland, and all 25 passengers and four crew members were killed in the incident. A verdict of gross negligence against the pilots, flight lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, from a review into the incident by two senior RAF officers in 1995 was overturned by the Government in 2011 after a 16-year campaign by the families. Relatives have now written to the Prime Minister to intervene and are seeking a judicial review in the High Court. Chris Cook, whose brother Richard was one of the pilots killed in the disaster, said: 'In the BBC documentary that was shown early last year, what came to light was that the official documents to do with the accident have been sealed for 100 years by the Ministry of Defence. 'We weren't aware of that. There was news to me when I watched the programme. 'And so it seems rather suspicious to us that the documents are going to be locked away for such a long time.' He added: 'We campaigned for 16 years to clear the pilots' names and so many times we were given indications that information didn't exist. 'Based on the experience we had in our campaign, they wanted us to go away – simple as that. 'But my late father always said justice has no expiry dates. 'Sadly, he passed away before we cleared Rick's name. 'He never got to see that, he died six years beforehand. 'But those words mean an awful lot, it means don't give up. 'You know if you think that an injustice is being done, you keep fighting for it.' Mr Cook says there are 47 individuals that lost their fathers in the crash, most of whom were children and some not yet born, who have lived their whole lives without answers. Jenni Balmer Hornby, daughter of Anthony Hornby who was killed in the disaster, said: 'It was a week before my 10th birthday when the crash happened and so obviously I wasn't old enough to go to any of the earlier inquiries, but my mum went to those. 'For some time she felt that it was an accident because of these inquiries. 'But now we know that the full information wasn't given, so we know over time that these inquiries were completely ineffective. 'I think it's very clear to myself and everyone in the campaign that the MoD have lost their moral compass – I'm so certain now that the MoD is hiding something. 'I can't go another 31 years not knowing what happened to my father. 'Him and his colleagues risk their life for their country and in return, we have just been dismissed and fed lies for three decades and we all deserve a lot better.' Andy Tobias, who was just eight when his father John Tobias went on board RAF Chinook ZD576, has branded the response from the MoD as a 'betrayal'. He said: '(It's been) really tough. 'My brother and myself have not had a father, he's not been around to direct us through the challenges that you face in life. 'You never get over it but you learn to live with it. 'For us, the MoD have really let us down as families. 'It's been a complete betrayal to all of those men who boarded that flight and gave their life and service. 'If my father knew that his family were fighting so hard to get answers and to get the truth, he would be turning in his grave. Sue Sparks, whose husband Gary was killed in the crash, said: 'I think it would give us closure. 'Over the 30 years, we were led to believe it was an accident, which it wasn't. 'It could have been prevented. 'The helicopter was declared unairworthy and they were made to fly in it. 'It makes us feel angry and not treated properly by the MoD. 'As a war widow, I feel very, very let down by the Government and the MoD.' The MoD has been approached for comment.
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE MoD is accused of 'sickening cover up' after calls for a public inquiry into Chinook crash that killed 29 people including MI5 spies
Defence chiefs have been accused of a 'sickening cover up' after calls to hold a public inquiry into a military helicopter crash that killed 29 people were snubbed. RAF Chinook ZD576 was flying dozens of British intelligence personnel from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to a conference at Fort George near Inverness when it crashed in foggy weather in the Mull of Kintyre on June 2 1994. All 25 passengers – personnel from MI5, British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary – were killed, along with the helicopter's four crew members. Furious families of the victims have pleaded for a public inquiry into the tragedy, after 'numerous concerns' were raised about the helicopters - which had been branded 'un-airworthy' by those who worked on them. But their latest effort, launched on the 31st anniversary of the disaster earlier this month, was rejected by the Ministry of Defence - sparking fury from grieving relatives, who accused military chiefs of 'continuing to deceive' them. Now, a former British spymaster has gone on the attack and accused the MoD of a 'cover up' and 'marking its own homework' in a furious broadside against top brass. Colonel Philip Ingram, who knew some of those killed in the disaster, told MailOnline: 'This is a truly sickening and disgraceful cover up by the MoD. 'There are enough questions around what has come out of any investigation to suggest there has been a cover up. 'Whether this is a mechanical failure, bad procurement decision or a failure by arrogant members of the chain of command to give in to pilots' wishes to fly other aircraft or something else more nefarious - questions need to be answered.' Families launched legal bid in a 'letter before action' to the Government earlier this month and will now pursue a judicial review after the plea was snubbed by the MoD, which has sealed access to the files for 100 years. Nicola Rawcliffe, whose brother Major Christopher Dockerty was killed in the crash aged 33, said she was 'disgusted' with the MoD's decision to 'summarily dismiss our claim'. She said: 'The MoD is continuing to deceive our families and disrespect our loved ones' memories by claiming that the many previous inquiries investigated all the facts, but we now know the aircraft was not airworthy. 'The Government may have sealed the files for 100 years, but we, the families of those who died, are firmly united, strong and defiant, and we will get to the truth, no matter what it takes.' Following the disaster, the Chinook's pilots, Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were accused of gross negligence, but the verdict was overturned by the UK government 17 years later following a campaign by the families. A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out 'numerous concerns' raised by those who worked on the Chinooks, with the MoD's testing centre at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire declaring the Chinook Mk2 helicopters 'unairworthy' prior to the crash. Andy Tobias, who was eight when his father Lieutenant Colonel John Tobias, 41, was killed, said: 'My childhood was stolen from me because someone decided my dad and his colleagues should be put on a helicopter that was not fit for purpose. 'My mum, my brother, I and all the families deserve the truth and the MoD must repay the honour and integrity that those on board had shown in their years of service to their country.' Calling for an independent probe into the tragedy, Col Ingram added: 'Everything that has happened so far has been MoD marking its own homeworking. 'The MoD constantly turns around and says its people are its most important asset and that they will do anything to look after them, well clearly in this case they haven't. 'They have thrown those that died and their families under the bus and not given them closure and that is disgusting. 'The MoD tried to pin the blame on the pilots. That's typical of what the MoD does in trying to cover things up. 'They threw the blame on those who cannot defend themselves... It's a shocking scandal.' The families, who formed the Chinook Justice Campaign, said failing to order a public inquiry was a breach of the UK Government's human rights obligations. Solicitor Mark Stephens, from law firm Howard Kennedy, said the MoD's decision was an 'unforgivable betrayal' to those who died and 'an undisguised slap in the face' for their bereaved families. He added: 'So much for the Government's so-called commitment to duty of candour. 'We will now seek a judicial review into the Ministry of Defence's decision to deny the families truth, transparency and justice.' The MoD said it was 'unlikely that a public inquiry would identify any new evidence or reach new conclusions on the basis of existing evidence'. A spokesman added: 'The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review.' It is understood the sealed documents contain personal information relating to third party individuals and the early release of this information would breach those individuals' data protection rights. However, Col Ingram questioned whether these details would need to be heard in any public inquiry looking into the circumstances of the disaster. Amid swirling fog, a huge Chinook helicopter smashed into the mountainside at the Mull of Kintyre: All 29 died when Zulu Delta 576 crashed in one of the RAF's worst peacetime disasters... 30 years on, their families are set to mark the tragedy ByGavin Madeley For The Scottish Daily Mail In the swirling evening fog of June 2, 1994, RAF Chinook helicopter ZD576 crashed into a remote mountainside on the Mull of Kintyre, killing all 29 people on board and resulting in one of the Air Force's worst peacetime disasters. The aircraft was transporting the elite of the UK's anti-terrorist intelligence operations in Northern Ireland and as well as bringing heartbreak to their families, the crash set back the cause of peace in Ulster at a stroke. Thirty years on, as the bereaved families prepare to mark this milestone anniversary, we present in gripping detail, a minute-by-minute account of this enduring tragedy. Tuesday, May 31, 1994 - Zulu Delta 576 becomes the first of the upgraded Mark II-type Chinooks to be used in Northern Ireland when it arrives in the province two days before its ill-fated final flight. Its highly trained four-man RAF crew belong to the elite Special Forces – the two pilots, Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper, 30, and Rick Cook, 28, have thousands of hours of flying experience on Chinooks, while loadmasters Kev Hardie and Graham Forbes are skilled navigators. Hardie saw action in the Gulf War and helped drop the now famous Bravo Two Zero SAS patrol hundreds of miles behind enemy lines. But the reliability of the Mk IIs, which have been given only a partial certificate of airworthiness, have sparked safety fears among some pilots, with one of ZD576's engines replaced twice in the weeks leading up to the ill-fated flight. It prompts Cook to double his life insurance payments to £300 a month, and three times in the ten days before the crash he makes his father John, a former Concorde pilot, promise to look after his family in the event of an accident. Shortly before the crash, Tapper asks permission to keep an extra Mk I on standby because of the Mk II's 'limited operational capabilities'. His request is refused. Wednesday, June 1 - The Chinook crew are tasked with transporting 25 anti-terrorism experts – including ten Special Branch RUC officers, nine Army intelligence officers and six Crown servants, five of whom work for MI5 – from RAF Aldergrove, near Belfast, to a security conference at Fort George, near Inverness. The event is held annually outside Northern Ireland to review the year's tragedies and assess the prospects of a peace settlement in Ulster. Flt Lt Tapper plans a low-level route skirting the lighthouse on the southwest edge of the Mull of Kintyre, 42 nautical miles away, then north, hugging the coastline up the Sound of Jura before cutting through the Great Glen. Thursday, June 2, Morning - After a day of routine troop movements, ZD576 returns to RAF Aldergrove to collect its VIP passengers. The conference is serving as a double retirement celebration weekend for two of the most senior officers on board, assistant chief constable Brian Fitzsimons, the head of RUC Special Branch, and the head of MI5 operations in Northern Ireland, John Deverell. Some have packed golf clubs along with their top secret files. 5.30pm - The passengers are shown to their seats, arranged in two inward-facing rows along the sides of the aircraft. The mood is upbeat as they wait for take-off, expecting to reach their accommodation in less than two hours. Swathes of fog have been building and dissipating in the Irish Sea, while the Kintyre peninsula is swallowed up in low mist and light rain. The Mull of Kintyre lighthouse has switched on its foghorn. 5.42pm - The Chinook takes off from RAF Aldergrove with Cook as the operating pilot in the right-hand cockpit seat and Tapper, as non-handling pilot, to his left. The crew make several routine reports to air traffic control and all seems well. Within 20 minutes, all 29 people on board will be dead. 5.46pm - Air traffic control officer Sinead Swift, 27, receives a final message informing her the helicopter has reached the boundary of Belfast international airport's controlled airspace and was proceeding on its journey. The brief routine message ended: 'Good day.' 5.50pm - Witnesses see the Chinook flying very low and making 'a peculiar noise' over the village of Carnlough on the Antrim coast. Anne Tyler, 40, tells a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) that the twin-rotor craft 'skimmed tree tops, roof tops [and] chimney pots' as it left the Irish mainland. She often hears military helicopters near her house and has a 'gut feeling' there is 'something strange about the noise' coming from the rotors. 5.55pm - A crew member tries to contact the military's Air Traffic Control at Prestwick in Ayrshire, but the call is not answered and the crew does not repeat the message. There is no indication that it is an emergency call. No further radio communications are heard from the aircraft. 5.56pm - Out at sea, yachtsman Dr Mark Holbrook is battling with a sail change in blustery winds when the helicopter thunders past less than 400ft above him about two miles south-west of the Mull of Kintyre lighthouse. 'It was flying very low and very fast, and I thought it was down looking at the sea for something specific,' the scientific instrument maker recalls. Through a break in the cloud, he can see the helicopter from about a quarter to half a mile away, its landing gear, markings and flashing light all visible. He tells the FAI: 'If you are seeking to establish whether the pilot could see the location of the Mull lighthouse, yes, I believe he could.' The cloud then swallows the aircraft. Dr Holbrook is the last person to see ZD576 in flight. 5.57pm - As they near the Mull of Kintyre, the crew make a conscious decision to change direction which should have taken them safely to the west of the lighthouse but, inexplicably, the Chinook continues straight on towards 1,400ft-high Beinn na Lice – the Mountain of Stone Slab. The Chinook is travelling at 150 knots, far in excess of its normal cruising speed of 135 knots. It should never go above 138 knots and at 142 knots, pilots experience 'eyeball bounce' when the Chinook shakes so violently that instruments become impossible to read. At 150 knots, it would have taken all the pilots' skills and knowledge to control the aircraft and quickly and accurately diagnose why the engine speed is involuntarily increasing. 5.58pm - Lighthouse keeper David Murchie hears the distinctive beat of the approaching Chinook's twin rotors drown out the foghorn but cannot see the aircraft through the 'dense wall of fog' that has cut visibility out to sea to less than 20 yards. He wonders if it is going to land at the lighthouse's helipad. He cannot see that Flt Lt Cook is frantically pulling the 'up' lever to squeeze every last ounce of lift from the stricken aircraft. Mr Murchie, an amateur pilot, said: 'I became very concerned because I knew it did not have the altitude to clear the high ground. I heard what sounded like a dull thud followed by a lot of whooshing.' Then there is silence. 5.59pm - The Chinook slews sideways into the mountainside, its right side smashes into the lip of a cliff, shredding the drive shaft and shattering the blades. Flt Lt Cook is ripped from his seat and hurled out. A split-second later the floor of the central cargo area shears from the main body. The Chinook explodes in a fireball as 500 gallons of aviation fuel sprays like a flaming waterfall across the heathery ridge and into the sea 800ft below. Yet the blazing wreck stays airborne cartwheeling up the mountain, the 51ft rear rotor blade scything chunks out of the remains of the aircraft's mangled body. It flips over and flies upside down, the blades gouging into the hillside, before skidding and breaking in two. 6pm - Tourist Russell Ellacott, 35, and a friend are walking down the lighthouse road when the track behind them is consumed by flaming debris and top-secret documents caught in the wind. 'There was smoke and things flying up in the air and landing all around us,' he says. He likens it to 'a firework display' amid the wrenching of tortured metal. 'The helicopter seemed to crash on the ridge we had just walked from,' he adds. The pair run back up the road to be confronted by a harrowing vision: 'We tried to see if there was anything we could do to help but the smoke was too bad. About 100 yards later we came into a clearing and found a body.' 6.02pm - Mr Murchie, 56, a former Glasgow policeman, calls to his wife, Margaret, to phone the emergency services then starts uphill on foot as the head keeper, Hector Lamont, 59, arrives back with the lighthouse Land Rover from a shopping trip with his wife, Helen, in nearby Campbeltown. The two keepers take the vehicle up the hillside road but find their way blocked by aircraft debris, and the intense heat and thick smoke from the wreckage. Mr Murchie gets out and walks into the debris field to offer help but can find no sign of life. 6.04pm - Mrs Murchie's 999 call is picked up, triggering a rescue operation. Locals from the nearby village of Southend and workers from Carskiey Estate where the aircraft came down race over to help, while the first professionals on scene are a paramedic and a local doctor. 6.12pm - Police alert the air-sea rescue centre at RAF Pitreavie, Fife, which despatches a Royal Navy helicopter from HMS Gannet at Prestwick, Ayrshire, and a Nimrod from RAF Kinloss to act as an aerial control centre due to the hilly terrain. A second naval helicopter from Prestwick collects a medical team from Glasgow's Southern General Hospital, while a helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth picks up the mountain rescue team from RAF Kinloss and another helicopter flies in from RAF Boulmer in Northumberland. Campbeltown lifeboat is launched to check near the lighthouse for any survivors in the sea, while fire engines from Strathclyde Fire Brigade and RAF Machrihanish speed down to the Mull of Kintyre to assist. All their efforts will prove in vain. 6.30pm - The first police teams and local coastguard volunteers are on the ground just as David Soudan, manager of Carskiey Estate for 30 years, arrives with his son. 'It was horrific,' he recalls, 'there was a lot of smoke and mist, and visibility was never any better than 50 yards. Still, you could see debris strewn from the road to the crash, and further up towards the wreckage the bodies were scattered.' 7pm - The mists lift and the sun briefly breaks through to reveal a picture of devastation. 'It was just like a battlefield. A lot of the bodies were badly burned, with the heather all ablaze,' says John MacMillan, a member of the auxiliary coastguard for 35 years. Beyond the immediate horror of the blazing wreckage, a parallel security operation is gathering pace as an air-exclusion zone is imposed and police roadblocks seal off the crash site and officers prepare to turn back hundreds of journalists and TV crews descending on the Mull of Kintyre. 7.45pm - Rescue has turned to recovery and medical teams start to leave the scene knowing there is nothing for them to do. Ambulance crews are soon told to return to base and hospitals put on alert are also stood down. Pathologists conducting the post-mortem examinations will confirm that all 29 victims had died almost instantaneously, some so badly burned they have to be identified from dental records. Some rescuers will suffer prolonged trauma from what they have witnessed. Friday, June 3, Midday - Behind the police cordon, crash investigators are picking their way among the crumpled rotor blades, searching for clues. There is no flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder to aid their probe as neither was fitted to ZD576. Later, police will place every piece of debris into evidence bags, while stray possessions, including a golf club and a toilet bag, are taken away separately. Senior officers deny rumours that MI5 and special branch officers have also arrived to search for sensitive documents scattered over the square mile of the crash site. A vast aircraft hangar at Machrihanish air base is now a temporary mortuary and the centre of the accident investigation. Within its corrugated walls, behind high-security fences, experts start to pore over the debris removed from the crash site. Saturday, June 4 - Armed Forces minister Jeremy Handley inspects the remains of ZD576 which carried the cream of Northern Ireland's anti-terrorist intelligentsia to their deaths. His presence hammers home the massive security implications of the tragedy on this remote outpost. The names of the dead are revealed - Apart from the four crew, they number six MI5 officers, including Mr Deverell, 57; Stephen Rickard, 35; Michael Maltby, 57; John Haynes, 58; Martin Dalton, 37; and Anne James, 42; along with nine military personnel: Col Chris Biles, 41; Lt-Col Richard Gregory-Smith, 42; Lt-Col John Tobias, 41; Lt-Col George Victor Williams, 49; Major Richard Allen, 34; Major Christopher Dockerty, 33; Major Antony Hornby, 38; Major Roy Pugh, 37; and Major Gary Paul Sparks, 33. The RUC team led by Mr Fitzsimons, 52, included Det Ch Sup Dessie Conroy, 55; Det Ch Sup Maurice Neilly, 45; Det Sup Phil Davidson, 45; Det Sup Bob Foster, 41; Det Sup Billy Gwilliam, 50; Det Sup Ian Phoenix, 51; Det Ch Insp Denis Bunting, 39; Det Insp Stephen Davidson, 39; and Det Insp Kevin Magee, 44. Sunday, September 18 - Around 300 people gather on Beinn na Lice amid bitter winds for a memorial service to dedicate a stone cairn to the memory of the victims of the disaster. Among the mourners are Stella Rimington, head of MI5, RUC Chief Constable Sir Hugh Annesley, and the Army General officer commanding for Northern Ireland, Lieutenant General Sir Roger Wheeler. Rev Andy McMullon, chaplain at RAF Aldergrove, tells them: 'Looking forward in faith from this scarred hillside where the heather will soon burst into new life, we pray for all who face the task of rebuilding shattered lives.' Aftermath - In 1995, an RAF board of inquiry rules it is impossible to establish the exact cause of the accident but, to the horror of grieving families, the ruling is overturned by two senior reviewing officers, who find the pilots guilty of 'gross negligence' for flying too fast and too low in thick fog. That finding proves highly controversial, given the history of technical problems linked to the Chinook Mk IIs in general and ZD576 in particular, which was retrofitted with a computerised engine control system known as FADEC, which controls the aircraft's speed at all times and cannot be overridden by the pilot. The following year, a fatal accident inquiry held at Paisley Sheriff Court rules the cause of the crash is 'inconclusive', and several subsequent inquiries, including an independent review in 2011, find the pilots should not have been blamed and accepts that the RAF falsely declared compliance with regulations in relation to the aircraft's authority to fly. The families eventually receive compensation totalling millions of pounds from the Ministry of Defence, yet the case continues to make waves following recent MoD decisions to lock away files relating to the accident for 100 years and not organise any official memorial service to mark the 30th anniversary. Local minister Reverend Steven Sass, who is arranging a church-led ceremony taking in the memorial cairn, says: 'I understand that some of the families feel upset about the lack of an official military-led memorial service, but we hope that the church can offer the comfort, respect and recognition that is deserved.'
