Former Defence Secretary says he and his official 2011 Chinook crash review team may have been misled by MoD and calls on PM to order fresh review

32 years after Mull of Kintyre disaster, families hail “game changing” anniversary intervention from Sir Liam Fox who was responsible for clearing the pilots – and call for “root and branch reform” of MoD

Watch Channel 4 News reporting Sir Liam’s comments

Former Defence Secretary Sir Liam Fox and senior members of the official review which cleared the RAF Chinook pilots blamed for the Mull of Kintyre disaster have warned the Prime Minister that they may have been misled by the Ministry of Defence and have called for a fresh review into the crash.

In a major intervention on the 32nd anniversary of the tragedy, Sir Liam says evidence which has emerged since the Mull of Kintyre Review raises “deep concerns” that “vital information may have been withheld from ministers and parliament” and that information provided by the MoD “on the airworthiness of the aircraft was not correct.” 

The Chinook crash on 2nd June 1994 killed all 29 people on board, including 25 of the UK’s most senior intelligence and security personnel in Northern Ireland and four Special Forces crew.

Sir Liam commissioned the Mull of Kintyre Review in 2010 following years of criticism over the decision to blame pilots Flight Lieutenants Rick Cook and Jonathan Tapper for the crash.

That review, led by former Scottish judge Lord Philip alongside Privy Counsellors Lord Forsyth, Baroness Liddell and Lord Bruce, concluded that the finding of gross negligence against the pilots was no longer sustainable and the verdict was overturned.

However, in his letter to the Prime Minister on the eve of the anniversary, Sir Liam warns that evidence now available suggests the Chinook Mk2 helicopter involved in the crash was known by the MoD to be unairworthy and that key information may not have been disclosed to ministers, parliament or previous investigations. 

He writes: “On the evidence that was available we believed that the exact cause of the crash could not be established and that the decisions within the MoD, and the RAF in particular, were correct and that no cover up had taken place.

“As more evidence has come to light, we have had increasing concerns that these statements may not be true and that vital information may have been withheld from ministers and parliament.”

Countless official documents have been uncovered – many of them by the late David Hill, who was technical expert to the Chinook Justice Campaign and a former MoD aeronautical engineer – which prove that the aircraft was not fit to fly. The papers were recently provided to Sir Liam and others. 

Sir Liam reveals that a member of the original Philip’s Review team explained to him recently that: “The inquiry you asked us to carry out was very much focused on the issue of whether the accident was caused by pilot negligence and of course we concluded that the test for that was not met and we exonerated the pilots. We are very concerned to read this material which suggests that the information provided to us on the airworthiness of the aircraft was not correct.”

The letter, delivered to Sir Keir Starmer, states that MoD test engineers had described the Chinook Mk2’s FADEC software as “positively dangerous” and that the aircraft itself had been classed as “not to be relied upon in any way whatsoever” days before the crash.

Sir Liam warns that previous inquiries focused too narrowly on allegations of pilot negligence while failing to examine “the fundamental question of why a known-unairworthy aircraft was permitted to fly” and that the Chinook’s release to service “falsely declared the aircraft airworthy.”

His intervention follows the recent release of internal Ministry of Defence documents under Freedom of Information laws which campaigners say show senior RAF Air Chief Marshal Sir William Wratten attempting to “close down”discussion of airworthiness concerns and alternative explanations for the crash.

Wratten, along with colleague Air Chief Marshal Sir John Day, blamed the pilots despite evidence to the contrary.

Families of those killed, who attended a commemoration in Belfast at the weekend, have described Sir Liam’s intervention as a turning point in the campaign for the truth.

Andy Tobias, son of Lieutenant Colonel John Tobias MBE, who died in the crash, said:

“This is hugely significant and genuinely game changing.

“The former Defence Secretary who commissioned the previous review, and the very people who overturned the verdict against the pilots, are now saying they may have been misled by the Ministry of Defence.

“For decades, families have been told there was nothing new to examine. Now senior figures from the official review itself are questioning whether critical information about airworthiness was withheld. That changes everything and calls for a root and branch reform of the Ministry of Defence which clearly has a problem with transparency and why we have appropriately dubbed it the Ministry of Deceit.”

Jenni Balmer-Hornby, whose father Major Anthony Hornby, was killed added: “For 32 years, families have fought for the truth about why our loved ones were allowed to board an aircraft that was not fit to fly.

“This has never been about revisiting the technical cause of the crash. It is about accountability, airworthiness, and the decisions that put our loved ones on a positively dangerous helicopter that even the MoD’s elite test pilots and engineers were not allowed to fly.”

Sir Liam’s letter also criticises the Ministry of Defence’s recent handling of the case, including public statements which framed the issue solely around the “cause” of the crash rather than the wider issue of airworthiness and the circumstances in which the aircraft was permitted to operate. 

Sir Liam joins former Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind who has previously acknowledged that key information was withheld from both him and the Fatal Accident Inquiry and should have been disclosed by the MoD.

Sir Liam says he believes “it is essential to establish the truth behind these events, putting all the necessary information and conclusions in front of Parliament. This is crucial in ensuring that there can be no repeat of any procedural flaws that led to this tragedy or the chance of another occurring in the same circumstances in the future.

“I also strongly feel that we must ensure that procurement or commercial considerations can never be allowed to come before the appropriate considerations of the safety of our Armed Forces personnel.”

The families have repeatedly called on the Prime Minister to order a new independent judge-led review with full disclosure of all relevant material. Their legal team is seeking a Judicial Review of the decision not to hold a public inquiry.

Cross-party politicians say the case should become an early test of the Government’s commitment to transparency and the principles underpinning the proposed Hillsborough Law.

Andy Tobias added: “If even former Defence Secretaries and members of the official review now believe they were not given the full picture, then the Government cannot simply carry on pretending these questions do not exist. 

“The truth has been buried for too long. It’s time for the Prime Minister to commit and introduce the Hillsborough Law and duty of candour. He must now meet our families, do the right thing and order a fresh inquiry.”