A CLOSE friend of the Duke of York, and a Scots veteran of the
Falklands war were two of nine servicemen killed when their Royal Navy
Lynx helicopter crashed into the Kenyan bush, it was revealed yesterday.
Lieutenant Commander Christopher Fessey served with the Duke on HMS
Osprey where the Royal Navy Lynx helicopters are based. The Duke himself
is an experienced Lynx pilot and is due to return to flying later this
year.
The Scot, leading seaman Colin Roy, 26, whose home was in Newquay,
Cornwall, had been married for just five months. His parents live in
Station Road, Bearsden. Roy, who had been in the Navy for eight years,
was a Falklands war veteran and, more recently, had been stationed in
the Gulf.
His parents, who could not be contacted last night, were believed to
be travelling to London to meet their widowed daughter-in-law, Connie,
on her arrival from Kenya.
Accident investigators flew out to Kenya yesterday to probe the cause
of Sunday's accident which happened as the Lynx was heading for the
Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. The helicopter was from the Type 22
frigate HMS Brilliant, which was sailing for Mombasa for maintenance and
a period of crew rest from its role with the Armilla Patrol in the Gulf.
The Lynx was flying ahead of Brilliant when it came down at Vipingo,
18 miles from Mombasa. There were no survivors.
Brilliant, which made a vital contribution to the success of the South
Georgia operation in the Falklands conflict, left Devonport in January
and is due back in mid-July.
Commodore Christopher Craig, in command of the shore-based HMS Drake
at Plymouth said the helicopter was on a routine flight, travelling
across country when it crashed into the bush. He did not have any
details about the cause of the crash.
Lynx helicopters have been fully operational for more than 11 years,
and there had only been one previous fatal accident, he said.
Friends and relatives of the dead men were being comforted yesterday
as the full scale of the tragedy emerged.
Victim John Savage, 21, an only child of Ferngrove, Bury, lived for
his service life, according to his aunt. Mrs Agnes Kennan, of Linnet
Drive, Bury said: ''He was a great lad. He was very quiet, didn't drink
or smoke. He just lived for the Royal Navy.'' She said the young Able
Seaman's parents were ''absolutely devastated''.
Chief Petty Officer Simon Banks-Popple, 29, of Hillcrest Close,
Plympton, near Plymouth, another of the victims, had been in the Navy
since he was 16. His wife Rosemary, 29, was yesterday trying to console
children Sarah, five, and Julia, three.
She said: ''We spoke last about four weeks ago and he was getting on
fine. The whole family was really looking forward to seeing Simon when
he came home in July. This is so terrible.''
Chief Petty Officer Colin Simpson, 25, had followed his father's
footsteps into the Navy, and seemed set for a flourishing career.
Father Norman, 53, of Cole Lane, Ivybridge, Devon said: ''Colin always
wanted to be in the Navy and in the last few years served with the
Armilla Patrol, in the Indian Ocean and in the Falklands.''--PA.
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