Steve Nichols
A UK computer publication is claiming that a helicopter crash involving a Royal Air Force Chinook in 1994 was the result of a software failure and not pilot error as was claimed at the time.
Computer Weekly also claims that the UK Ministry of Defence misled Parliament about the circumstances surrounding the Mull of Kintyre crash that killed 25 senior intelligence personnel.
The magazine says it has documents that raise concerns about the reliability of FADEC, the software that controls the Chinook's engines, although then Defence Minister John Reid said there wasn't a shred of evidence that there was any technical malfunction on the Chinook.
Negligence
An RAF Board of Inquiry concluded that the crash was due to gross negligence by the pilots, Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper and Rick Cook.
But the US Army Safety Centre in Alabama also reported in April 1999 that it has details of a succession of "uncommanded manoeuvres or flight-control lockup in flight" that have affected the Chinook.
After the 360-degree "barrel roll" of a CH-47 Chinook in 1998, for example, the US Army issued a short summary of its findings.
It said that following "months of investigation and extensive research, testing and analysis the cause of this accident has never been determined."
Also, an E5 fault code found in the FADEC system of the Mull of Kintyre Chinook was the same fault code as on another Chinook badly damaged in 1989.
Computer Weekly says: "The Ministry of Defence would like us to believe that two vastly experienced special forces helicopter pilots ignored their training and flight instructions and flew their helicopter straight into a hillside."
It is calling for the UK Government to admit a mistake has been made and overturn the verdict of gross negligence.
It is also asking for people to sign a petition on its web site at www.computerweekly.co.uk to get the case reopened.
Source: Flight Daily News
