Expert warns poor equipment acquisition practices continue – putting service personnel at risk – with lessons not learned from 1994
Relatives of those killed in the Chinook helicopter crash have expressed their horror at the stark similarities between the 1994 tragedy on the Mull of Kintyre and the latest revelations over the Ajax armoured fighting vehicle.
Niven Phoenix, whose father Ian was killed, said: “I am horrified – but not at all surprised – at the stark similarities with the Chinook in that it involves known risks being ignored and transferred to the crews and occupants.
“That helicopter, which we now know from leaked evidence was unairworthy, crashed. It was put into service and into the air despite known safety issues, killing all on board, including my father.
“Now, with new Ajax vehicles causing illness and injury, the same disregard for soldier safety has repeated itself. Thankfully none of these injured soldiers were killed, but that is not a reason to ignore the facts and the dangers and the MoD must reform. It’s startling how arrogance and indifference bleeds into all facets of MOD causing unnecessary harm to our troops”
The Chinook Justice Campaign calls on the MoD to:
- Commission a full, independent audit of all current acquisition and safety-assurance procedures for military equipment not just those already implicated in incidents.
- Launch a new judge-led inquiry into the 1994 Chinook Mark 2 crash — with immediate release of all documents still sealed until 2094, and a transparent re-evaluation of the evidence.
Mark Stephens, from Howard Kennedy, lawyer for the Chinook Justice Campaign, which is seeking a Judicial Review into the MoD’s failure to order a public inquiry into crash, added: “These are not isolated “glitches,” but symptoms of a systemic failure to prioritise the safety and lives of servicemen and women.
“It highlights yet another group of military families who are being burdened with health issues caused by the failure of MoD accountability.
“The British public — and the families of those who gave their lives and those who have recently been harmed on the Ajax vehicles — deserve truth, justice accountability, and much needed reform of the Ministry of Defence and its acquisition practices.
Technical advisor to the Chinook Justice Campaign, former MoD aeronautical engineer David Hill has written several books on the crash and the MoD including Citadel of Waste which refers to the Ajax fleet, the MoD’s rejection of a proposal to establish a hearing protection team/programme and “in particular, savings at the expense of safety… (which) …cast a lingering pall over equipment acquisition and aviation safety in particular.”
MPs will have a chance to debate the Muill of Kintyre crash, and the families’ demands for a judge-led inquiry, in the House of Commons this afternoon.
