Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster.

[vigilant Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close vigilant]

As a pilot I have never understood the routing of the Chinook and never will.

[Lynx7 Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lynx7]

Crap weather, low cloud over sea, I've flown the route in an Islander in similar weather conditions and it was disaster waiting to happen. Especially if your right of track flying fast towards high ground coming straight up out of the sea and pick the next waypoint before seeing the previous one. We had the ability to punch up into the cloud and fly IMC (Instrument Met Conditions), they didn't as that Chinook wasn't cleared for icing conditions. I've seen the RIC Flight crash photographs and spoke to the pilot who flew the Islander that took them. It looks like the handling pilot saw the hillside at the last moment, pulled pitch to climb up over it and run out of space before plowing into the ground. There is a good book out that explains what happened without the emotion that obviously those close to the crew feel.

[spanner Association Member & WUSA Overseas rep aka Cathie Find all posts View Profile Close spanner]

Thanks to those involved with choppers for aiding our understanding, anyway, if it were not for Op Banner they would not have been there so still casualties of our war.