THE Ministry of Defence has agreed compensation with the families of
three Servicemen who were killed when their RAF Hercules transport plane
crashed in a remote Highland glen two years ago, it was claimed
yesterday.
Nine RAF airmen were killed when the plane crashed in the narrow Glen
Loch valley near Pitlochry on May 27, 1993.
There were no survivors and no witnesses to the last moments of the
aircraft.
The Hercules, normally based at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, was one of
three aircraft on a low-flying training exercise, heading to RAF
Lossiemouth. Weather conditions were good when it crashed at 3.55pm. It
was the first crash involving an RAF Hercules for almost 20 years.
It emerged last November, after an inquest in Wiltshire recorded
verdicts of accidental death on eight of the RAF airmen, that relatives
of the nine aircrew who were killed were consulting lawyers about the
possibility of legal action against the MoD. The aircrew included two
Scots.
The procurator-fiscal at Perth decided there would be no fatal
accident inquiry into the death of Sergeant Craig Hilliard, 23, an air
load master from Inverness. The other Scot was Squadron Leader Stanley
Duncan Muir, 49, a navigator from Midlothian.
Yesterday a BBC radio report claimed that the MoD had agreed to pay
compensation to the families of three of the dead aircrew.
According to the report, lawyers acting for the dead men's families
had threatened to sue the Government claiming that the plane was
overloaded with fuel and that the route had not been checked properly
before the mission.
The lawyers had alleged that the plane was carrying more fuel so that
a refuelling plane would not have to be called out. They also alleged
that a rocky outcrop hit by the plane was not on the map used by the
crew.
It is understood the legal settlement is in favour of three crew
members who were not at the controls of the plane. A separate legal
challenge against the MoD on behalf of the other crew members is
possible.
However, it is unlikely to include a claim on behalf of Sergeant
Hilliard. His mother, Rosemary, said yesterday at her home in Inverness,
that news of the compensation agreement for three of the aircrew had
come as ''a shock'' to her.
''I knew that some of the wives of the airmen who died were getting
together in England to launch a legal action against the RAF,'' she
said. ''My son's body was never removed from Scotland. The procurator
said his death was accidental.''
An MoD spokesman in London refused to confirm any settlement
yesterday. He would only say: ''We don't discuss any compensation
whatever the situation is between individuals and the MoD. It is a
matter for them and us.''
The inquest in November heard how the crew 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 inquest also heard a claim by Captain David Carter, a civil
airline and former Hercules pilot who flew with Squadron Leader Graeme
Young, 54, who died in the crash, that the RAF had ''recklessly''
over-fuelled the #20m aircraft.
Captain Carter said the plane was carrying 46,000lbs of fuel -- the
equivalent of a two-day sortie -- and claimed this was more than the
requirement of the training mission which he estimated was about
34,000lbs.
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.
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