Furious families say Armed Forces Minister Al Carns must be “living in an altered reality” after rejecting requests to meet relatives of the 29 killed for more than a year, refusing to release the files or back a public inquiry into the disaster
The families of those killed in the RAF Chinook crash on the Mull of Kintyre say they are incandescent at being ‘gaslit’ by the Armed Forces Minister Al Carns’s “jaw dropping hypocrisy” with his claims in the Daily Mail that service families who gave their lives for their country during the Troubles in Northern Ireland deserve a “fair deal”.
Carns has refused for more than a year to meet the Chinook families, has rejected their calls to release the files on the crash which have been sealed for 100 years, and has dismissed calls for a judge-led public inquiry, forcing relatives to seek a Judicial Review (JR) under Article II of the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to life.
Last night, Government lawyers requested a week’s extension to yesterday’s deadline for them to respond to the families application for a Judicial Review into the failure to order a public inquiry. The families’ legal team has agreed – setting a new deadline of October 1st.
The Mark 2 Boeing Chinook – which was known by the RAF and MoD to be “positively dangerous” and unairworthy – crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994 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 and four Special Forces crew.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Carns claims to have “engaged broadly with regimental associations, charities, families and veterans up and down this great nation”.
He continues: “It’s often overlooked but the reality is, hundreds of those service families— mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters— who lost loved ones have been searching for the truth.
“As we work to repeal and replace the Legacy Act, we must ensure that our service families can get to the truth without the system punishing those that served with dignity, courage and honour.”
Niven Phoenix, whose father Ian – a detective superintendent in the RUC – was one of those killed, said: “Al Carns is living in an altered reality if he can honestly write about truth and disclosure for those killed in the Troubles, whilst simultaneously forcing 47 children from the Chinook crash to take the Ministry of Defence to court for offering the exact opposite. It is jaw dropping hypocrisy.
“Al Carns claims to have engaged broadly with families. 100 percent nonsense. He’s refused point blank to meet or engage with us and is forcing us to go to court to get the truth he professes to want. His performative politics are infuriating. I’m totally incandescent today reading this absolute pile of horse manure from someone who is a military veteran himself.
“He speaks of ‘service families searching for the truth’ — as if he still holds a shred of credibility on the subject of justice. This, while he continues to drag the widows and children of those who died in the Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash through the courts, all to cover up the truth behind that tragedy.
“How dare he speak of truth when the Ministry of Defence has done everything in its power to bury it?
Our loved ones gave their lives in the service of peace in Northern Ireland. They died because they were placed aboard an aircraft which, according to the Ministry of Defence’s own records and test pilots, was considered “unairworthy,” “positively dangerous,” and “not to be relied upon in any way whatsoever.”
Andy Tobias, who was 8 when his father Lt Col John Tobias, 41, an intelligence officer, was killed in the crash, said: “I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes today when I read Al Carn’s words.
“We’ve spent decades being ignored, misled, and stonewalled by the Ministry of Defence, while the they throw lawyers at us, hide behind red tape, and hope we’ll give up or die while they seal key documents for a century.
“And today, they have the audacity to parade around pretending they care about justice? It is nothing but political theatre — and it is an insult to the memory of those who died.
“This government only cares about “truth” when it serves their narrative. When it doesn’t, they smear the dead and gaslight the living. We have been patient. We have been dignified. And we have been ignored.
“We will not stay silent while Al Carns refuses even to meet with us — using the grief of bereaved families as a political prop, while actively denying justice to others. If truth matters, it must matter for everyone. You cannot demand justice for some while burying it for others.
“We are sick of the double standards, the empty words, and the cowardice. Our families deserve the truth — and we will not stop until we have it.”
Files obtained by the families proves 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 a petition, which has attracted more than 41,000 signatures calling for a public inquiry, can be found at www.change.org/JusticeForThe29
