On 7 Dec 2005, I wrote to my MP, David Cameron about the Chinook crash. He replied and we continued to exchange letters. Then on 2 Jun 2006, afteer signing EDM 651 over the issue, he wrote:
The House of Lords Select Committee report unaninmously concluded that the reviewing Officers were not justified in finding that negligence on the part of the pilots caused the aircraft to crash.
I believe now that the only honourable course for the Government is to reinstate the reputations of the two brave young pilots who lost their lives. As I see it, the Lords Select Committee report confirms that there was a miscarriage of justice.
I thanked him for his letter, then asked what he would do when (not if) he became the next Prime Minister. He replied on 10 July 2006 as follows:
As I mentioned in my previous letter to you, I do believe that the reputations of the two pilots deserve to be reinstated, as the Lords Select Committee recommended an, in the absence of any overwhelming argument presented to me as Prime Minister that is what I would do.
Again I thanked him. With the 2010 election looming, I wrote to him again in early 2010. He replied:
Given the public concern about the Board of Inquiry findings of gross negligence against the pilots, the Conservatives believe that the matter cannot rest there. Accordingly, we have committed to undertaking a review if we win the forthcoming General Election, a move which is supported by the then Secretary of State for Defence, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, and the then Minister of State, Sir James Arbuthnot.
The Conservatives won the 2010 General Election; David Cameron kept his word and an independent review was conducted, culminating in July 2011 when Defence Secretary Liam Fox apologised to the families of two RAF pilots who were wrongly blamed for the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash. The review found that the two pilots, Flt Lts Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cook should not have been blamed, the earlier ruling was set aside and the pilots' reputations were restored.
Thank you, David, for keeping your word to me!