'We expect answers': Chinook crash families confront ministers with 335 questions and allegations of decades-long MoD secrecy

All 29 military and intelligence personnel on board RAF Chinook ZD576 died when it went down in fog while flying from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George near Inverness on June 2 1994.

On Monday, the bereaved families released 225 new questions about the events surrounding the crash, pressing ministers to explain how an "unairworthy" aircraft was selected for the mission and why "key technical documents" were withheld from earlier investigations.

These additions take the total number of outstanding queries to 335, after 110 were previously published.

The latest tranche of questions comes ahead of the families’ meeting with ministers on Tuesday, amid growing calls for a fresh judge-led inquiry and the release of MoD files on the crash that remain sealed until 2094.

They also want the case to be the first tested under the proposed Hillsborough Law, which will impose a duty of candour on public bodies.

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The Chinook Justice Campaign’s petition has gathered more than 51,000 signatures and MPs raised the matter in the Commons last month.

David Hill, a former MoD aeronautical engineer and technical adviser to the campaign, said: "These 225 new questions destroy the argument that there is nothing left to uncover.

"Together with the original 110, they expose how essential evidence was concealed from previous inquiries and demonstrate that the MoD has never provided full transparency into the circumstances that led to the deaths of 25 senior intelligence experts and four Special Forces crew.

"The suggestion that no new facts will be uncovered is a deliberate misrepresentation to cover up past wrongdoing."

Many of the 335 questions stem from leaked MoD technical files, internal memos and assessments. According to the campaign, expert analysis shows crucial detail about how and why the flight was authorised remains obscured.

Among the questions are who approved the mission, why the Chinook Mark 2 was accepted "off contract without certification" in breach of MoD regulations, and whether those on board were warned of the risks.

Andy Tobias, who was eight when his father, Lieutenant Colonel John Tobias, died in the crash, said the 335 questions are "certainly not definitive".

"They are not all we need answered and the files that are closed for 100 years are only some of the papers we want released," he said.

"What this long list makes clear, however, is that it is simply untenable for ministers to say there is nothing new to learn.

"We want full transparency, full candour and to finally start getting to the full truth.

"We expect nothing less from our meeting with ministers tomorrow."

He added: "We have already built up an unsavoury treasure trove of MoD documents, test pilot warnings and evidence withheld from earlier investigations which prove my father and 28 others were put on an aircraft the MoD knew to be unairworthy.

"This is not my opinion. These are facts the Ministry of Defence either ignored, buried or refused to disclose. We have been forced to fight for the truth for 31 years.

"Now we expect answers."

Northern Ireland Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood, who will join the families on Tuesday, said: "If the promise of candour is real, it starts here.

"Ministers cannot keep repeating the same lines while refusing to answer the families' questions.

"A judge-led inquiry and full access to sealed files is the only way to honour those who died and the families who have fought for them."

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 understand that the lack of certainty about the cause of the crash has added to the distress of the families.

"The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review.

"Lord Coaker, minister of state for defence, Al Carns, minister for the armed forces, and Louise Sandher-Jones MP, minister for veterans and people, will be meeting with representatives from the Chinook Justice Campaign before the end of the year to listen to their concerns first-hand."