Calls for fresh review into Chinook disaster

Relatives of 29 people killed in an RAF air crash 32 years ago say a fresh review into the disaster would "allow the families to move on".

A Chinook helicopter carrying 25 passengers and four crew crashed in the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland on 2 June 1994.

The former North Somerset MP and Defence Secretary Sir Liam Fox, who led an official review into what happened, has called for another because "vital information" may have been withheld.

Niven Phoenix from Wiltshire, whose father Dept Supt Ian Phoenix was killed in the crash, said he was "very pleased" with Sir Liam's intervention. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it would continue to engage with requests for a judicial review.

The Chinook crash killed 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 Lieutenant Rick Cook and Jonathan Tapper for the crash.

That review exonerated the pilots of any blame.

Sir Liam said evidence has now emerged that raised "deep concerns" that "vital information" may have been withheld and information provided by the MoD "on the airworthiness of the aircraft was not correct".

On the 32nd anniversary of the disaster, he delivered a letter to Downing Street which asked for a fresh review to be carried out.

"We are asking the prime minister to help the families get truth and closure by putting together an inquiry that looks at all the evidence we have, not just about the crash itself but about the decisions and the events leading up to the crash."

Pip Hesketh, from near Wells in Somerset, lost her cousin Graham Forbes in the crash.

"Graham was a thoroughly decent man," she said. "He was very quiet and he was very modest. He loved the RAF and he loved his job.

"To put him in an aircraft that was so dangerous feels like a shocking betrayal of his service and the service of everyone in that aircraft that day," she added.

Hesketh now wants "all the information that we have gathered" to be available to "an independent inquiry".

Niven Phoenix was 21 years old when his father died in the crash.

"We're very pleased to see Sir Liam Fox wade in on our behalf. He is backing our calls for an independent inquiry," Phoenix said.

"We hope this intervention will push it forward. The ability to compel witnesses and get the information as to why this helicopter, which is non airworthy, was allowed to fly.

"I think it would allow the families to move on," he added.

An MoD spokesperson said: "Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends, and colleagues of all those who died in the Mull of Kintyre crash.

"The Chinook Justice Campaign [CJC] submitted a formal claim for Judicial Review in September 2025, and the MoD is focused on responding to that claim and to the allegations it contains.

"The MoD continues to engage with the CJC throughout this process but we will not be offering comment on issues that are being considered as part of that independent process."

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