ZD576 - Boeing's CH-47 Chinook in service to the United Kingdom.

ZD576

ZD576, a United Kingdom HC2 Chinook helicopter at the crash site.

"ZULU DELTA" 576 Left RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, at around 1730 hrs on Thursday, 2 June 1994, bound for Fort George, Inverness. The cargo that evening were 25 passengers of a Northern Ireland Peace Keeping Force consisting of high ranking members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Army Intelligence Corps, members of various other units of the Army, including Officers of the Queens Lancashire Regiment, Devon & Dorset Regiment, Prince of Wales, Royal Artillery and the Prince of Wales Own.

The Chinook had a crew of four - two pilots and two crew members. The crew members served as Air Loadmasters, and would help guide the Chinook in for landing at its destination, as well as ensure cargo and passengers were secure.

On the evening in question, ZD576 had crossed the North Channel of the Irish Sea, and was heading straight towards the Scottish Peninsular known as the Mull of Kintyre, when it was seen by a local yachtsman to be flying straight and level, with no apparent trouble, the weather according to this man was clear, but there was some mist and cloud on the hill, apparently, for reasons still unknown, no attempt was made by the Chinooks crew to climb. What went on in the cockpit we shall never know, for there were no voice recorders on board. It seems incredible that they would just head for the mountain without any form of evasive action. These pilots were not novices. They were experts in their own field and had been hand picked for special duties such as this.

The Chinook crashed at a location known as Beinn Na Lice, a location where a Wellington bomber had crashed in December 1943 while on a training flight from Silloth.

The helicopter was so badly wrecked that little evidence was ever found as to the precise cause of the crash. For a time the scene got ugly. At first the pilots were hailed as heroes for carrying out these special duties in the wake of all the terrorism in Northern Ireland. Then when the investigation began, and no real evidence was found in the wreckage, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) for the United Kingdom put the blame on the two pilots, stating that they were guilty of

"gross negligence". The families of the two pilots and the county Sheriff in Scotland all fought for their innocence. After years of struggling to have the reputation of the pilots restored, the House of Lords Select Committee published their findings indicating that there was no basis for the finding of gross negligence by the MOD. In Final Report, published in February 2002, the House of Lords concluded by saying "It was not possible to be certain that negligence on the part of the pilots caused the crash". Pictured are the two pilots of ZD576 when it crashed: Flight Lieutenant Jonathan Tapper (top) and Flight Lieutenant Richard Cook (bottom).

The MOD, in a response to the Select Committie's Report published in July 2002, maintained their position with respect to the findings.

The last crew of ZD576

Flight Lieutenant Jonathan Tapper, Pilot.

Flight Lieutenant Richard Cook, Pilot.

Graeme W. Forbes, Master Air Load Master.

Sergeant Kevin A. Hardie, Loadmaster.

Passengers Killed in the Crash:

Brian Fitzsimons, Assistant Chief Constable.

Desmond Conroy, Detective Chief Superintendent.

Maurice Reilly, Detective Chief Superintendent.

Phillip Davidson, Detective Superintendent.

Robert Foster, Detective Superintendent.