ShyTorque/chinook240 
These are the facts and they are undisputed:
1. On 2 June 1994, at approximately 1800hrs, a Chinook helicopter with 29 people on board crashed on the Mull of Kintyre - there were no survivors.
2. No one knows - with absolute certainty - what caused the accident.
Thirteen plus years later - we are still waiting for the incumbent Secretary of State for Defence to review this case and make a judgement. A number of contributors to this forum have stated that we should sit on our hands and await the outcome of that review. I disagree.
I recall Malcom Rifkind’s submission:
Why the MoD must pardon the Chinook pilots - By Malcolm Rifkind, Secretary Of State for Defence 1992-1995.
I do not agree it should be a pardon – there is insufficient evidence to prove ‘gross negligence’ against the 2 pilots. If, after this review, the lesser accusation of negligence is levelled at one or both pilots, then this charge can only be coupled with the related corporate systemic failings that occurred prior to the incident. Not to do so, would be true injustice.
These are highly complex and technical matters. A defence secretary has no more specialist knowledge of why an aircraft might have crashed than a health secretary would have on why a heart transplant had gone wrong. One must, to a considerable extent, trust the judgement of one's senior advisers.
Why should we assume that Browne - even with additional facts - is any better qualified to make a judgement? Who will be his advisors during this review?
But there is a culture of resentment at others seeking to second-guess RAF expertise. To acknowledge a mistake would hurt, and might reopen many policy questions. I am sure there are many who wish this whole issue would just go away.
Does this mindset still exist? Are there still many who wish this whole issue would just go away?
As long as we all stick to the facts (scoped opinions are equally acceptable), I believe the flow of replies to this forum serves to remind us all that this 'issue' will not go away until justice is done.
AA
Last edited by Sand4Gold; 3rd May 2008 at 17:10.
Reason: Typo errors etc