Mull of Kintyre Chinook Crash 1994 - Chinook Justice Campaign

It is 31 years since the fatal crash of a Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland, on 2nd June 1994.

The crash of the RAF Mark 2 Chinook – serial number ZD 576 – resulted in the deaths of all twenty-five passengers and four crew on board. There were no survivors.

The passengers included experts from the Security Services, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army.

On board were the majority of the UK’s senior Northern Ireland intelligence and counter-terrorism experts at the time.

It remains one of the RAF’s worst ever peacetime disasters.

On Friday 31st May 2024, to mark the 30th anniversary, many of the bereaved families announced that they had joined together to form the Chinook Justice Campaign.

The Chinook Justice Campaign seeks access and answers: access to all the key documents, answers about their loved ones’ deaths, and accountability for the circumstances of the accident.

After three decades, the families of those who tragically lost their lives are still searching for answers about what happened to their loved ones.

Although there have been a number of investigations and processes since 1994, many fundamental questions remain unanswered for the bereaved families.

The two dead pilots, Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were wrongly accused of gross negligence. It was only after a 17-year campaign for justice by the pilots’ families that the UK Government finally overturned the verdict. 

The circumstances of the crash and the investigations that followed it have been depicted in a two-part BBC documentary Chinook: Zulu Delta 576.

Both episodes are available to watch at the bottom of our homepage.

THE FILES - SEALED FOR 100 YEARS

It was from this documentary, rather than any official communication, that many families of those who died found out that official documents related to the crash have been sealed by the UK Government for 100 years, until 2094. 

As a result, many of us are concerned that the truth has been locked away until long after many of those affected have died.

The families demand answers.

We want the files unlocked and a judge-led public enquiry to establish the truth.

We demand access, answers and accountability.