UK ministers agree to meet families of 1994 Chinook crash victims

UK ministers have agreed to meet with the families of those killed in the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash.

Campaigners announced on Friday they will meet with three defence ministers and the UK victims’ minister on December 16.

The Chinook Justice Campaign say their repeated requests for a meeting up until this point had been rejected.

A total of 25 senior intelligence experts and four special forces crew were killed when the helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre near Inverness 31 years ago.

The incident was initially blamed on pilot error before that was overturned in 2011.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejected calls to launch a public inquiry earlier this year.

In a letter to the families, Starmer said it would not “bring any greater certainty” and would not be “in the public interest” despite more than 25,000 signing a petition demanding answers.

Starmer’s response followed an open letter sent to the UK Government by several families who renewed their calls for a public inquiry.

On Friday, the Chinook Justice Campaign emphasised that families are still calling for a meeting with Starmer.

The families are also once again calling on the Prime Minister to overturn the MoD’s refusal to release all sealed documents, and to establish a full, judge-led public inquiry.

Andy Tobias, who was eight when his father Lieutenant Colonel John Tobias, 41, was killed, previously said the “secrecy” raises questions about what really happened.

“The actions of the MoD and the Government continue, daily, to cause not just emotional and psychological distress but intellectual distress as well,” Nicola Rawcliffe, whose brother Chris was one of the victims, said.

“We have mountains of evidence about the circumstances surrounding the crash and the unairworthiness of the helicopter, but the MoD and ministers deny the reality, refuse to acknowledge the evidence or – until now – to meet us.

“Perhaps now they have deigned to meet us – not just one minister but four of them – we are getting somewhere – we will see.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence 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.

“The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review and Lord Coaker, minister of state for defence has offered to meet with representatives from the Chinook Justice Campaign before the end of the year, to listen to their concerns first hand.”