RAF pilots cleared of blame for Chinook 1994 Mull of Kintyre crash

Two RAF pilots have been effectively cleared of causing the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre in which 29 people died.

A House of Lords select committee concluded on Tuesday February 5 there was no justification for finding fault with the two pilots.

The pilots - Jonathan Tapper, 30, from Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk, and Richard Cook, 28, from Church Crookham, Hants - died when their helicopter crashed in thick fog on its way from Northern Ireland to Inverness in June 1994.

All 29 people on board were killed, among them 25 senior Northern Ireland intelligence officers, who were travelling to an army base for a special meeting.

A Ministry of Defence investigation into the accident on the Mull of Kintyre on June 2, 1994, had previously accused the two Special Forces pilots, Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cook, of "gross negligence", which infuriated the men's families.

But serious doubts were later raised about the reliability of new computer software used to fly the aircraft.

On Tuesday, an all-party select committee of five peers cast doubt on the MoD’s finding. They said: "We unanimously conclude that the reviewing officers were not justified in finding that negligence on the part of the pilots caused the aircraft to crash."

The Lords said their conclusion was based on all the evidence before them and the fact that the standard of proof required for blaming a pilot should leave "absolutely no doubt whatsoever". (AMcE)