Call for review into Chinook crash involving Major Hornby from Bolton

A Bolton army major was killed in the Chinook incident.

Major Anthony Robert Hornby, aged 38, was killed, along with 28 other people, when the Chinook in which he was a passenger crashed in thick fog on the Mull of Kintyre in June 1994.

Major Hornby, from Over Hulton, served with the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment and was based in Portadown.

Handout photo issued by Chinook Justice Campaign of Jennifer Balmer-Hornby (right), whose father Major Anthony Robert Hornby MBE, died in the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash. Twenty-five intelligence experts and four special forces crew were killed when their helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, en route from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George near Inverness, on June 2 1994. Issue date: Saturday May 30, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Chinook Justice Campaign/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. (Image: Chinook Justice Campaign)

Jenni Balmer-Hornby, his daughter said last month: “For 32 years, families have fought for the truth about why our loved ones were allowed to board an aircraft that was not fit to fly.

“This has never been about revisiting the technical cause of the crash. It is about accountability, airworthiness and the decisions that put our loved ones on a positively dangerous helicopter that even the MoD’s elite test pilots and engineers were not allowed to fly.”

A High Court judge ruled this month that the families of several victims of the crash could not bring a legal claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over the incident.

Twenty-nine serving military personnel died when the Chinook HC-2 helicopter crashed into the Mull of Kintyre in south-west Scotland on June 2, 1994, during a flight from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland.

While the 2011 Mull of Kintyre inquiry overturned an initial decision to blame the pilots, it did not determine the cause of the crash.

The Chinook Justice Campaign (CJC), which is made up of more than 55 family members of 25 of the victims, sought to challenge the MoD’s “ongoing failure” to set up an “independent and effective investigation” into the crash.

However, a High Court judge’s ruling threw out the case as the claim had been brought too late.

The CJC legal team has said it will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, but Matt Tobias, son of Lieutenant Colonel John Tobias who was killed in the crash, said the families “do not want years of further litigation”.

CRASH SCENE: The remains of the Chinook helicopter which crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994

Mr Tobias said the Prime Minister “has the power to prevent that” by ordering a fresh independent review.

He said: “We would urge Mr Burnham to meet us within his first 100 days in office so we can present the evidence that has emerged over recent years and explain why we believe a fresh review, independent of the Ministry of Defence, is now essential.

“Mr Burnham’s speech in the House of Commons, in which he spoke about ending Britain’s cover-up culture and strengthening the duty of candour, gave our families real hope.

“We ask that he and his ministers give the Chinook families more respect than we received from his predecessor, who denied us a meeting and an inquiry – believing MoD lies instead.

“After 32 years, we are not asking for special treatment.

“We are simply asking for the truth.”

The CJC group has said it wants Mr Burnham to establish a fresh review, independent of the Ministry of Defence, with full access to all relevant documents relating to the airworthiness of the Chinook Mk2 helicopter and the circumstances leading up to the crash.

In the letter delivered to Mr Burnham, the Chinook families said: “Throughout your career you have argued that the State should never use its power to frustrate families seeking the truth.

“We respectfully suggest that the Chinook case now presents the first opportunity for your Government to demonstrate those principles in practice and should be the test case for Hillsborough Law.”

Hillsborough Law was unanimously backed by MPs in the House of Commons this month.

It would create a legally enforceable duty of candour which compels public officials and authorities to act transparently when investigations and inquiries take place.

The families have requested that victims minister Alex Davies-Jones, re-appointed last week, take up their case as one of the test cases for Hillsborough Law.

Their appeal is backed by former Conservative defence secretary, Sir Liam Fox, who has also written personally to Mr Burnham urging him to resolve the case.

The Chinook Justice Campaign has also written to new Defence Secretary Wes Streeting urging him to “begin correcting the mistakes of your predecessors.”