Crash inquiry hears of 'no help' order

The committee report is expected next January

A former senior RAF official has told the Chinook helicopter crash inquiry that he was ordered by his superior not to help crash investigators after the accident.

Squadron Leader Robert Burke, who is now retired, was a former chief test pilot on Chinook helicopters.

He was giving evidence on Tuesday to the Lords inquiry investigating the accident.

Twenty-nine people died in the crash when the helicopter crashed into the Mull of Kintyre in 1994, the worst peacetime accident to befall the RAF.

The crash claimed the lives of 29 people

A military board of inquiry found the two pilots, flight lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper guilty of "gross negligence", a verdict which has been contested by the men's families and supporters.

The new inquiry by a House of Lords select committee is investigating whether the original findings were correct.

The five-man committee, which is chaired by former Scottish appeal court judge, Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle, is expected to complete its report by the end of January next year.

Mr Burke told the investigation that after the accident he was ordered by his base commander not to help air accident investigators looking into what had happened.

Officials criticised

Asked what he thought was the most likely cause of the accident, Mr Burke said he believed it was caused by a ''control jam'' or technical malfunction.

He said that pilots had refused to fly the Mark 2 Chinook on account of safety fears.

Mr Burke said: "My very strong perception, particularly when talking to the senior man in the Chinook team, was that they were very unhappy with the Fadec (electronic control) system."

Earlier, another witnesses to the inquiry criticised the way defence officials treated his evidence.

Mark Holbrook, an amateur yachtsman who was the last person to see the helicopter in flight before it crashed into the Mull of Kintyre, said he does not believe he was debriefed by MOD officials '' diligently''.

"Throughout the last seven years I have always thought that my evidence was nothing other than corroboratory," he said.

"I have to tell you and the committee I think my evidence was not collected with the diligence and the care that the airmen and their families deserve."