'Al Carns claims to have engaged with us...100% nonsense'

Families still in dark over 1994 Chinook disaster

- By Conor Wilson

RELATIVES seeking answers about why their loved ones died in the 1994 RAF helicopter disaster have blasted a minister for his “nonsense” promises about giving service families the truth.

Families of the 29 soldiers and security personnel killed when a Chinook crashed on the Mull of Kintyre have accused Al Carns of “jaw-dropping hypocrisy” following an opinion piece in the Mail on Sunday.

The armed forces minister said the decision to repeal the Legacy Act, designed to protect veterans of operations in Northern Ireland from vexatious prosecutions, was taken having “engaged broadly” with those affected and was done to “ensure that our service families can get to the truth”.

The relatives’ Chinook Justice Campaign has long campaigned for answers from the Ministry of Defence and has accused Mr Carns, a former Royal Marines colonel, of hypocrisy after they claimed he refused to engage with them about the disaster.

Incandescent