Relatives of 1994 Chinook crash victims initiate legal action against MoD

Relatives of intelligence officers and military personnel killed in a 1994 RAF helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre have taken the first step in legal action against the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Twenty-nine people – including officers from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the army, along with the helicopter’s special forces crew – died after RAF Chinook ZD576 crashed in foggy weather in south-west Scotland on 2 June 1994.

Now, 31 years to the day, lawyers acting pro bono for the bereaved have issued the MoD with a “letter before action”, seen by the Guardian.

The letter formally informs the MoD of the Chinook Justice Campaign’s intention to apply for a judicial review of the decision not to hold a public inquiry into circumstances of the crash, citing article 2 of the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to life. It urges the secretary of state for defence, John Healey, to start an inquiry “without further delay”, giving him 14 days to respond.

Last week the Guardian reported the families’ demand, in an open letter to the government, for the full release of archive documents that have been locked away until 2094 by the MoD. Their lawyers believe a public judge-led inquiry would have full access to material that previous investigations have not been able to consider.

Mark Stephens, of the law firm Howard Kennedy, said: “The government has a legal obligation to answer the families. Thirty-one years on, there can be no operational reasons for secrecy and the only way to find out the truth is with a judge-led inquiry where the judge can review the so-called ‘secret’ material and answer the multitude of questions that are left begging.”

Stephens said the families and their legal counsel had seen “more than enough evidence” to convince them the “aircraft should never have taken off”.

The most recent review, by Lord Philip in 2011, set out safety concerns but concluded the cause of the crash was unlikely to be ever known, while exonerating the helicopter’s late pilots, Flt Lts Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, who had been found guilty of “gross negligence” by the RAF 17 years earlier.

Maj Gary Sparks, with daughters Esme (right) and Lucy and son Paddy. Photograph: Chinook Justice Campaign

Esme Sparks, from County Durham, whose father, Maj Gary Sparks, was killed in the crash, said: “We don’t want to have to take legal action against the government, but we do want and need answers. What is being hidden? In our view, a public inquiry is key.”

Andy Tobias, who was eight when his father, Lt Col John Tobias, 41, was killed, said: “It’s clear to me that a complete lack of duty of care was given to those passengers because they got on a Chinook that wasn’t fit for flight.

“And really, the government need to show their duty of candour and really be open and transparent about what’s in those documents and give us the opportunity to really understand anything that’s in them that could give us more answers about what happened.”

On Sunday, families attended a private commemoration at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Describing the crash as “a tragic accident”, an MoD spokesperson previously said: “Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died.”