Mull of Kintyre

The inscription on the brass plate reads:
"IN MEMORY OF THOSE OFFICERS OF THE R.U.C, ARMY, RAF and
CROWN SERVICE,
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES"
CHINOOK HELICOPTER CRASH
2nd JUNE 1994.
With the names of all those who perished
in the tragedy.

For some time the coastline of Kintyre, and in particular the area around the Mull, has been known to pilots as a dangerous area to fly at low level because of the freak weather conditions that frequently affect the coastline.
The first recorded military air accident on the Mull was in 1941 when an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley from No. 502 Sqn crashed on the west slope of Beinn na Lice, no more than one tenth of a kilometre from the site of the Neptune crash. Since then there have been nineteen recorded air accidents in the vicinity of the Mull and over a hundred and twenty lives have been lost in this remote corner of Scotland, making it one of the most notorious areas in the whole of the UK for air accidents.
By far the most tragic of these accidents, in terms of lives lost, was on 2 June 1994 when an RAF HC2 (ZD576) Code G from No. 7 Squadron crashed. The helicopter was on a flight from Aldergrove to Inverness with a party of senior intelligence and security officers and was heading towards the Mull of Kintyre when it encountered low cloud. As it approached the land it too crashed on the slopes of Beinn na Lice, less than a kilometre from the site of the Neptune crash, killing all 29 on board.

Despite having no eyewitnesses and three separate inquiries proving inconclusive, the RAF held the two pilots wholly accountable for the tragedy.

To read about a campaign to clear the pilots 
please click here

Flt Lt Jonathan Paul Tapper.
Flt Lt Richard David Cook.
MALM Graham William Forbes.
Sgt Kevin Andrew Hardie.

Royal Air Force

Lt Col Richard Lawrence Gregory-Smith. Age 42
Lt Col John Tobias. Age 41
Lt Col George Victor Alexander Williams. Age 49
Colonel Christopher John Biles. Age 41
Major Richard Allen. Age 34
Major Christopher John Dockerty. Age 33
Major Anthony Robert Hornby MBE died 2 June 1994.
He was killed in the Mull of Kintyre Chinook Helicopter crash with 28 other Security Service, Army, RAF and RUC personnel ... He was serving with 3 Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland at the time. He was 38, married and came from Bolton.
Major Roy Pugh.  Age 37
Major Gary Paul Sparks.

Army Intelligence Corps

ACC John Charles Brian Fitzsimons. Age 53
DCS Desmond Patrick Conroy.
DCS Maurice McLaughlin Neilly.
Det Super Phillip George Davidson.
Det Super Robert Patrick Foster.
Det Super John Turbitt Phoenix.
Det Super William Rutherford Gwilliam.
DI Dennis Stanley Bunting.
DI Kevin Michael Magee.
DI Stephen Davidson.

Royal Ulster Constabulary
(Special Branch)

Martin George Dalton. Age 37
John Robert Deverell. Age 57
Anne Catherine MacDonald. Age 42
Michael Bruce Maltby. Age 57
Stephen Lewis Rickard. Age 35
John Stuart Haynes. Age 58

SECURITY SERVICES