Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, has ruled out ordering a new
inquiry into the controversial Chinook crash, which left all 29
people on board dead, including senior police and intelligence
officers.
Ainsworth has told a key campaigner for the families of the two
pilots of Chinook ZD576 that Ministers alone are unable to overturn
a finding of gross negligence against them.
In a letter to peer Martin O'Neill, Ainsworth suggests it is not
within the power of ministers to issue a fiat - decree - which
overturns the finding of gross negligence against the two pilots
Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper and Rick Cook.
The letter follows an 83-page legal case written by
Michael Powers QC which
argues for the names of the pilots of ZD576 to be cleared. Powers
and O'Neill have met defence ministers to argue the case for a new
inquiry.
Ainsworth says that the
"Powers" report raises "no new issues that cast doubt on the
findings of the [RAF] Board of Inquiry."
He adds: "Whilst I acknowledge that you have gained the
agreement of a number of your key stakeholders, I cannot agree that
the suggested review [by a retired Appeal Court judge] would be an
appropriate way forward
" the findings of a properly constituted Board of Inquiry
convened under statute cannot be overturned by Ministerial
fiat."
But Powers told Computer Weekly that the
Defence
Council, which is chaired by the Defence Secretary, could
overturn the finding of negligence against Cook and Tapper.
O'Neill said the ministers were not telling the whole story when
they claimed they could not overturn the finding.
"What they do not say (in the reply) is that they do have the
power to refer the finding to another inquiry. We are completely in
their hands. The new evidence is of such a volume and importance
that it justifies opening a new inquiry," he said.
The Tories have taken the opposite position and have made it
official party policy that they will, if elected, review the
finding of negligence against Cook and Tapper.
Tory supporters of a review include John Major and Margaret
Thatcher.
Box: Background to the crash.
The Chinook crashed on the Mull of Kintyre on 2 June 1994,
killing all 29 on board: four crew and 25 senior police and
intelligence officers.
Nearly a year later, two air marshals found the pilots of ZD576,
Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper and Rick Cook, grossly
negligent.
No clear cause of the accident emerged. But an RAF Board of
Inquiry said that problems with the Chinook's software-controlled
"Fadec" fuel control system might have left no trace in the
wreckage and could have contributed to the accident.
At the time of the accident, the MoD's own IT experts at
Boscombe Down had considered the Fadec system unsafe.
Chinook crash - pilot error or software failure?
RAF Justice - Computer Weekly's report on a cover-up of Chinook
software problems
Campaign for Justice
website
MoD response to the report by Michael Powers QC on the Chinook
crash