Chinook crash families see newly released documents: Find out what they said

Newly released files into the 1994 Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash show the MOD was aware of airworthiness concerns regarding the aircraft, the families of the victims have said.

Four crew members and 25 passengers were killed when Chinook Mk2 ZD576 crashed into a hillside in foggy conditions when flying from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland en route to a security conference.

In response to a Freedom of Information request made by BFBS Forces News, the Chinook Justice Campaign says the documents showed how the MOD had sought to make scapegoats of the pilots and wanted to close down any alternative explanations for the cause of the crash.

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Airworthiness issues

After the crash, concerns about potential control malfunctions and wider airworthiness issues were raised by experienced people within the RAF, the group said.

While these included test pilots and technical experts, officials continued to blame the two Special Forces pilots, Flight Lieutenant Jonathan Tapper, 28, and Flight Lieutenant Richard Cook, 30.

According to the Chinook Justice Campaign's legal team, the documents also reveal internal correspondence which highlights a determination within the MOD at the time to close off any further discussion of those safety issues and reinforce the conclusion of pilot negligence.

In one document, Air Marshal Sir William Wratten outlines plans to respond to emerging alternative theories in a way designed to shut down further debate, while other papers show sustained efforts to rebut or dismiss concerns about possible technical faults.

Air Mshl Sir William, along with his colleague Sir John Day, overruled the official RAF Board of Inquiry in order to blame the pilots for gross negligence, a decision which contravened the RAF's own rules, the campaign group said.

The families of the dead say the documents demonstrate that the MOD was not engaged in an open search for the truth at the time, but was instead focused on defending an unjust position.

No search for the truth?

"These documents are profoundly disturbing," said Chris Cook, whose brother Richard was one of the pilots of ZD576.

"They show that credible concerns about airworthiness were being raised at the time, yet instead of properly investigating them, the Ministry of Defence moved to close down discussion and protect its own position.

"For the families, this confirms what we have long believed – this was never a genuine search for the truth.

"It was about defending an institutional narrative to cover their own backsides and their own mistakes, which they continue to do to this day.

"They dug deep, particularly Wratten, to blame two elite pilots who were effectively sent to their deaths with 27 others in an un-airworthy helicopter that should never have left the ground."

An unsafe aircraft?

The Chinook Justice Campaign said days before the crash, the MOD's own test pilots had refused to fly their own Chinook Mk2 on safety grounds.

It said the released documents add to a mounting pile of evidence and official papers which prove the aircraft was not airworthy, that technical issues with the helicopter were unresolved and that safety procedures and documentation were incomplete.

Retired Squadron Leader Robert Burke, who was unit test pilot at RAF Odiham, said: "I made clear at the time that there were serious anomalies in the official explanation of this crash. The documents show those concerns were closed down at the expense of truth and the pilots' reputations.

"The Chinook Mark 2 had serious, dangerous, unresolved issues, and yet, as I've said before, this flight was used to instil confidence in the aircraft.

"That is a matter of grave concern and since the MOD is still refusing to allow proper and full inquiry into the crash and to release all documents pertaining to the crash, it can only point us to serious issues of truth and transparency.

"The very real questions about airworthiness and decision-making that should have been properly examined then must happen now, for the sake of the families and to ensure equipment is not bought off contract and without proper testing ever again."

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 MOD continues to engage with the Chinook Justice Campaign (CJC) throughout this process.  Defence Ministers have met with Campaign representatives to listen to their concerns, and the CJC also met with the Ministry of Justice Victims Minister in March 2026. 

"The CJC submitted a formal claim for Judicial Review in September 2025, and the MOD is focused on responding fully to that claim and to the allegations it contains. We will not be offering comment on issues that are being considered as part of that independent process."