Now ANOTHER member of the review panel that cleared pilots calls for Chinook inquiry

A former lawmaker who helped exonerate pilots blamed for the Chinook disaster has joined calls for a new investigation.

All 29 people on board the RAF helicopter died when it crashed on the Mull of Kintyre on 2 June 1994.

The Ministry of Defense initially attributed the cause of the crash to pilot error, but this was ruled out following an investigation in 2010 and it has since been revealed that there were concerns about the aircraft’s airworthiness.

Grieving families have secured a high court hearing next month seeking a judicial review into the UK government’s refusal to hold a new investigation into the crash.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the families say one of the government’s main arguments against their requests is that the case was filed too late.

But former Liberal Democrat MP Lord Malcolm Bruce, who sat on the review panel that cleared pilots Flight Lieutenants Rick Cook and Jonathan Tapper, added his weight to the campaign yesterday, saying it was ‘not too late to seek the truth’.

Writing in The Scotsman newspaper, the expert said the panel ‘rightly exonerated’ the pilots but did not investigate the wider circumstances surrounding the disaster. He added: ‘If there is a cover-up it must be exposed.

Former defense secretary Sir Liam Fox (centre) arrives at 10 Downing Street, London, with a letter attended by some families affected by the Chinook Helicopter crash

‘To tell bereaved families that they have not been able to get the truth because it has taken too long would be to pile justice on ridiculous injustice.

‘The review I prepared corrected an injustice. It is time to consider whether another carefully constructed review could finally answer the questions that still haunt the families of the 29 victims. Thirty-two years is a long time. But it’s not too late to seek the truth.’

His call follows that of another panel member, former Scotland secretary Helen Liddell, who claimed she was “deliberately misled” by officials.

Former defense secretary Sir Liam Fox, who ordered the initial investigation, previously claimed that subsequent evidence suggested software used to regulate the plane’s engine was known by the Ministry of Defense to be faulty.

Andy Tobias, son of Lieutenant Colonel John Tobias, who died in the crash, said: ‘We have spent 32 years trying to understand why our loved ones were allowed on a plane that proved unfit to fly.

‘After decades of unanswered questions, it is difficult to understand how the answer could simply be ‘you should have discovered the truth sooner.’

Mark Stephens, the human rights lawyer representing the families, said: ‘If the state has not been forthright, information has been withheld and people have been misled, it cannot turn around and say ‘you’re too late’. That would be a travesty of justice piled on top of a cover-up.’

Wreckage of Chinook Helicopter that crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, killing all 29 people on board

The Ministry of Defense said it ‘continues to engage with the Chinook Justice Campaign (CJC)’.

A spokesman said: ‘Defence ministers met with campaign representatives to hear their concerns and the CJC also met with the Minister for Victims at the Ministry of Justice in March 2026.

‘The CJC lodged a formal request for a Judicial Review in September 2025 and the Ministry of Defense focused on responding fully to that request and the allegations it contained.’

The spokesman added: ‘We will not comment on matters being considered as part of the independent process.’