CLAIMS that it is too late for an independent review into the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash “cannot be allowed to win,” according to the son of one of those killed.

The helicopter crashed into a hillside on the Mull of Kintyre on June 2 1994, en route from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George near Inverness, claiming the lives of 25 intelligence officers and four special forces crew.

Pilot error had been blamed, but this was overturned in 2011. Since 2024, families have united to call for a judge-led public inquiry and the publication of all files.

Ahead of a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London today to determine whether families can proceed with a judicial review, Niven Phoenix, whose father Ian died in the crash, said: “For decades, many of our families trusted official investigations and explanations because they had no reason to believe vital information had been withheld.

“Then they learned about the lack of airworthiness of the Mark 2 (helicopter) and that papers had been sealed for 100 years.

“As more evidence has emerged, suspicion has grown. 

“We asked for an independent review. Now the government’s answer is that we’ve simply come too late. That argument cannot be allowed to win.”

Slamming the government’s argument as “morally indefensible,” Mark Stephens, solicitor for the families and part of a pro bono legal team from Howard Kennedy and Doughty Street Chambers, added: “Their argument appears to be that if the state keeps the evidence long enough, the families lose the right to ask questions.

“That is not justice. That is secrecy rewarded by the passage of time.”

The MoD chose not to comment while proceedings are ongoing.