"What are they hiding?": 1994 Chinook crash families fight 100-year MoD secrecy

Lucy Sparks, who lost her father Major Gary Sparks in the 1994 RAF Chinook crash on the Mull of Kintyre, questions why the Ministry of Defence are withholding "the truth" and asks "What are they hiding? Who are they protecting?".

Father and Husband Major Gary Sparks was one of 29 people who were killed in the crash.

Lucy Sparks is a part of the Chinook Justice Campaign Group who are a group of bereaved families who have come together to campaign to the government to get documents released that have been sealed for a hundred years in relation to the Chinook crash that took place in 1994.

Lucy was 2-years-old when her father was killed in the crash.

"I don't have any first hand memories, unfortunately, of that time of my dad, of the aftermath. But of course my family have lived with the backdrop of the trauma that's always been kind of a part of our our family life over the last thirty years"

"I mean, even since the time of the crash, my family and others were treated quite callously in a way. We had to, you know, we had to move house very, very quickly. We had to leave army accommodation very quickly, for my mum who was 35 years old. She was widowed in the most awful circumstances with three children: A seven year old and twins of two."

"So we are wondering what the Ministry of Defence are hiding. And we do not think that their mantra in terms of the Chinook crash being an accident is accurate and we want to open a dialogue with them and we want to get to the bottom of the circumstances of the crash"

We're told that in 2010 there was a previous independent judge-led review on the Mull of Kintyre where they were not make any viable conclusions on potential technical causes for the crash.

A number of investigations were also held into the circumstances of the accident, including a Board of Inquiry and a Fatal Accident Inquiry, along with subsequent reviews by the House of Commons Defence Committee; the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, and the House of Lords. 

However, the sealed documents have created suspicion within Lucy and the other affected bereaved family members.

"And we just want to know why those documents have been sealed. What is the justification? Because our rights as bereaved families supersede any third party, any third party protection, and, any anything around that."

"So we want to get to the bottom as to why those documents have been locked up and what, what are they hiding? Who are they protecting? And for what reasons? Because we have a right to know what happened. We have a right to get answers"

In response to this, an MOD spokesperson said:

“The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died.

“We have received a pre-action protocol letter from the Chinook Justice Campaign and are considering our response. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”