RELATIVES of nine aircrew who were killed when an RAF Hercules crashed
into a remote Highland glen are consulting lawyers about the possibility
of taking action against the Ministry of Defence.
The move follows an inquest in Wiltshire yesterday where a coroner
recorded verdicts of accidental death on eight of the RAF airmen who
died when the plane crashed in the narrow Glen Loch valley near
Pitlochry on May 27 last year.
There were no survivors and no witnesses to the last moments of the
aircraft, which had taken off from its base at RAF Lyneham near Swindon
and was heading for RAF Lossiemouth following a low-level navigation
training exercise.
After the inquest, former RAF policewoman Mrs Anne Young, whose
husband, Squadron Leader Graeme Young, 54, died in the crash, said a
group of widows were in discussion over possible legal action.
''We have reservations about the RAF board of inquiry report and are
holding talks together to discuss the possibility of suing. We are being
advised by solicitors. We don't ever want anything like this to happen
again.''
Relatives attending the inquest, in the tiny community hall at
Ellingdune near RAF Wroughton, heard how the crew, which included two
Scots, had completed their exercise and were headed for Lossiemouth when
they were suddenly confronted by a rocky outcrop which they tried to
avoid.
In performing the manoeuvre at low level and low speed, the Hercules
stalled and crashed, killing all on board in a massive fireball. The
accident was the first involving a Hercules for almost 20 years.
The inquest later heard Captain David Carter, a civil airline and
former Hercules pilot who flew with Squadron Leader Young, claim that
the RAF had ''recklessly'' over-fuelled the #20m aircraft.
Speaking on behalf of Mrs Young, he said the plane was carrying
46,000lbs of fuel -- the equivalent to a two-day sortie -- and claimed
this was more than the requirement for the training mission, which he
estimated was about 34,000lbs.
''It seems reckless, when flying at 250ft, to have more weight than
you need. The higher the weight, the higher the stalling speed.''
Captain Carter claimed the extra fuel load would have meant the pilot
was in ''an impossible situation'' as he tried to manoeuvre out of the
valley at low speed and height.
However, the coroner, Mr David Masters, told Captain Carter that the
inquest was limited in its task and could not deal with questions which
might be part of civil proceedings.
He heard that 46,000lbs was a standard load and ruled that Captain
Carter's information was ''not relevant''.
The inquest was told that an inquiry by the MoD failed to pinpoint who
was piloting the plane.
The investigation found that the accident was ''consistent with the
aircraft having stalled at an altitude from which recovery was
impossible''.
Those who died were Squadron Leader Young, from Cirencester; Squadron
Leader Stanley Duncan Muir, 49, a navigator, from Midlothian; Sergeant
Craig Hilliard, 23, an air load master from Inverness; Flight Lieutenant
Graham Southard, 33, a pilot from London; Flight Lieutenant Stephen
McNally, 27, a navigator, from Merseyside; Master Engineer Terence
Gilmore, 39, an air engineer from Humberside; Sergeant Alan King, 32, an
engineer from Cheshire; Lance Corporal Gary Manning, 23, from London;
and Flying Officer Jonathan Owen, 23, a pilot from Stratford-upon-Avon.
The procurator-fiscal at Perth decided there would be no fatal
accident inquiry in connection with the death of Sergeant Hilliard
because inquests were being held in England.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article