Judicial Review claim officially submitted to the High Court by Chinook crash legal team
September 13th, 2025
Families blast Ministry of Defence for ‘briefing’ MPs on the crash when ministers have refused requests to meet relatives of the 29 killed for more than a year
Lawyers acting for the families of those killed in the 1994 RAF Chinook crash on the Mull of Kintyre have submitted a formal application to the High Court for a Judicial Review over the government’s failure to order a public inquiry and its decision to lock away the files on the tragedy for 100 years.
In a separate move, the families involved have accused the Defence Minister Al Carns - who has refused for more than a year to meet them and hear their concerns - of attempting to “orchestrate a public relations campaign” against them, by offering to brief MPs in private instead.
Yesterday (Friday 12th) in the Commons, the Alliance Party's Sorcha Eastwood supported by Labour's Ian Byrne have tabled an Early Day Motion backing calls for a judge-led public inquiry into the crash, for the government to honour its commitment to a legal duty of candour on public bodies, and state that "justice and accountability" have been too long denied.
Calls for a judge-led inquiry have been rejected both by the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the families are now seeking a Judicial Review (JR) under Article II of the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to life.
Evidence obtained by the families - and available on the Chinook Justice Campaign website – confirms that the Mark 2 Boeing Chinook helicopter ZD576 was not airworthy and should never have taken off on that fateful flight on June 2nd1994, killing all 29 on board.
Last month, former Squadron Leader Robert Burke said ZD576 was ordered into the air as a “show flight” unbeknown to the passengers or crew.
When it went wrong, the families believe the truth was covered up by the MoD – with two Air Marshals wrongly pinning the blame on the pilots to conceal the truth. Key facts were withheld from every subsequent inquiry – while the main crash investigation failed to consider the crucial issue – the airworthiness of the Chinook Mark 2 aircraft, which was considered unsafe to fly by test engineers and test pilots at Boscombe Down.
The claim for Judicial Review, also now served on MoD lawyers, states: “Those concerns as to airworthiness, the process by which the aircraft involved in the crash was authorised to fly, and the potential role in the crash of a lack of airworthiness and deficiencies in the authorisation process, have never been fully, effectively and independently investigated and brought to light.”
The application, issued by a pro-bono legal team led by Mark Stephens, CBE, from Howard Kennedy LLP, and barristers at Doughty Street Chambers, led by Sam Jacobs, states that there has been “no effective investigation of the circumstances of the crash.. no adequate public scrutiny of the circumstances of the crash… insufficient involvement of the families” and points out that previous investigations have been “inadequate in allaying public concern and suspicion” about the tragedy.
More than 41,000 people have now signed a petition calling for a public inquiry and the files to be released.
Mark Stephens, CBE, solicitor from Howard Kennedy LLP, said: “The families have been forced to resort to the courts. Their Judicial Review claim highlights a catalogue of flaws, errors, missed opportunities, wrong assumptions, warnings and a raft of safety issues which have been covered up and sealed away in the hope that the truth won’t come out and that relatives will die before documents are made public.
“The lack of airworthiness of the Chinook Mark 2 helicopter has never been fully considered by any previous inquiry. That’s why we are seeking a declaration by the court that the Ministry of Defence is in breach of its investigative duty under Article II of the Human Rights Act, and we await the courts decision on our application.”
The JR application also points out that the Ministry of Defence was in litigation with Boeing and Textron-Lycoming over issues with the Mark 2 helicopter – a fact which was concealed from both the Scottish Fatal Accident Inquiry and the former Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind.
Government lawyers have 21 days to respond to the application.
Accompanying the Judicial Review claim are personal testimonies by many of the widows, and 47 sons and daughters, of those killed.
The application points out “the profound suffering caused not only by the loss of our loved ones but also by the Ministry of Defence’s continued deceit, duplicity, and dishonour in withholding documents and refusing to answer why our family members were allowed to fly on an aircraft known to be unairworthy. We refuse to accept the Ministry of Defence’s cruel silence towards families shattered by loss and betrayed by the very institution sworn to protect them.”
Meanwhile, the Veterans Minister Al Carns has written to MPs who have raised concerns about the crash, and who support the Chinook Justice Campaign, offering them a private briefing but has failed to invite the families.
In a letter to Carns, the families state: “We find it profoundly distressing and disrespectful that after refusing to meet with us - the families of those who died serving their country - you have now decided to meet our elected representatives without us present, presumably only because of the public support that we have generated.
“To hide behind litigation as a reason not to meet us is not only evasive, it is disingenuous. If you are unable to comment due to potential legal action, how is it acceptable for you to engage with MPs to influence their understanding of this matter? We can only interpret this as an attempt to orchestrate a public relations campaign against us while denying us a voice and a face-to-face meeting, which we have requested for more than a year.”
Matt Tobias, who was 10 when his father Lt Col John Tobias, 41, an intelligence officer, was killed in the crash, said: “We have spent more than a year asking to meet Al Carns, as well as the Defence Secretary and the Prime Minister. They have all ignored us. We have asked politely for a public inquiry because it’s clear my father and 28 others were put on aircraft the RAF and MoD knew was unairworthy. Our calls have been rejected. And now they want to ‘brief’ MPs.
“We are well aware of the MoD briefings that went on when the campaign to clear the pilots was underway. They tried everything to undermine the families then, and they are trying to do so today. They want to shut us up and sweep the truth under the carpet once again. But we are very wise to the tactics of the department we call the Ministry of Deceit. They will no doubt ‘brief’ MPs – in other words smear our campaign and rubbish our concerns. But we will not give up until the whole truth is out and we would urge MPs to meet us and support us and to hear the full story, not the MoD’s lies.
“We want to know why my father and 28 others were sent to their deaths by the State, and why there has been a cover-up of the true facts for 31 years. We want all the files on the crash to be released and for truth, transparency and justice with a judge-led public inquiry.”
The letter to Mr Carns concludes: “You have the benefit of knowledge about the circumstances of the crash which your predecessors did not. History will judge you harshly for not seizing this opportunity to do the right thing.”
It took nearly 17 years for their families to clear the pilots’ names and for an apology to be issued by Sir Liam Fox, who believed the men had been scapegoated, in the House of Commons.
The Mk 2 Chinook crashed on the Mull of Kintyre wiping out a top tier of intelligence and security experts in Northern Ireland. It was carrying 25 British intelligence personnel from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army.
The leaked files show that the Boeing Mark 2 Chinook’s FADEC engine software experienced “unpredictable malfunctions” as well as “shutdowns and surges in power”. The aircraft was considered by test engineers at Boscombe Down “not to be relied upon in any way whatsoever” and Lord Philip’s Review in 2011 confirmed this was ‘mandated’ upon the RAF.
Details of the Chinook Justice Campaign can be found at chinookjusticecampaign.co.uk and the petition can be found at www.change.org/JusticeForThe29