Widows break silence to demand answers over 1994 Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash
"He said 'cheerio' and 'I'll be back in a few days'," recalled Lynn Bunting, the widow of Detective Chief Inspector Dennis Bunting, one of the victims of the Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash.
DCI Bunting was one of the 29 people who never came home on 2 June 1994 after Chinook ZD576, which was taking 25 VIPs to a security conference near Inverness, crashed into the hillside.
"It is difficult to talk about it because we just don't know what happened," Mrs Bunting explained.
Many theories, but few facts
"They were all killed on the side of a mountain in a big fireball. There's been so many theories… but we don't actually know."
There have been numerous investigations and inquiries into the disaster. The RAF's initial investigation blamed the pilots, but this was later reversed, and an apology was issued in Parliament.
Last year, a documentary revealed that papers containing details of the crash had been sealed for 100 years.
The families of those who died want these papers to be opened.
"Why those papers have been locked away, what are they hiding, what are the Government hiding from us, who are they protecting?" asks Sue Angus, whose husband Major Gary Sparks also died in the crash.
"We want openness and transparency and accountability. The Government says the papers have been locked to protect names to do with Northern Ireland at the time.
"We don't want to see that. We want to know why that helicopter was ordered to fly that day when Boscombe Down engineers had said it was not fit for purpose and not airworthy."
Mrs Bunting added: "I can understand them deciding to seal them for 25 years for security, [but] what's happened that they've sealed them for 100 years?
"I'm going to go to my grave and never know – and I don't think that's right. So if you ask me what I want the Government to do – I want to know what happened and not a load of waffle."
MOD's thoughts are with the families
The 29 families of those killed are applying pressure on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to hold a judge-led public inquiry into the crash, and respond to the evidence placed before it on 16 December 2025.
An MOD spokeperson said its thoughts remained with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died, and that they understood the lack of certainty about the cause of the crash had added to the distress of the families.
They added: "The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review.
"Ministers met with representatives from the Chinook Justice Campaign in December to listen to their concerns first-hand."
Thinking of loved ones
The widows argue the investigations to date have focused around clearing the names of the pilots initially accused and not the details contained within the documents.
David Hill, a civilian engineer in the MOD at the time who has worked with the Chinook Justice Campaign Group, said the Chinook was not airworthy and should not have flown.
Ahead of 14 February, every cabinet minister has now been sent a copy of a new Valentine's Day video from the Chinook Justice Campaign group – featuring a number of widows, two of whom have never spoken publicly before.
"Valentine's Day is a day we think of loved ones," said Mrs Bunting. "He was just the light of my life, he lit up the room and suddenly not to have him, it was difficult.
"I haven't put my head above the parapet much. But I said to my daughter, maybe it's time we said something, maybe it's time we tell our story."
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