The final conclusions of an air accident investigation into the Clutha helicopter crash will be published as relatives of the 10 who died claim the report raises as many questions as it answers.
The report of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) will be officially published on Friday nearly two years after a police helicopter returning to its base on the banks of the River Clyde crashed through the roof of the Clutha pub in Glasgow city centre on 29 November 2013.
Relatives of those who died and survivors were made aware of the contents of the report in advance, but have been bound by confidentiality until the official publication.
However, many could not contain their anger as they left the briefings. John McGarigle, who lost his father in the tragedy, spent three hours with air accident investigation officials on Wednesday evening.
Speaking immediately after the meeting, he told BBC Scotland: “The AAIB were totally transparent and totally helpful. I asked them a lot of questions and they obliged with every single one.”
“But at the end of the day, we’ve waited two years for that report and I’m absolutely furious. I think people will understand when the report comes out on Friday. I’m left with even more questions.”
McGarigle, who waited at the crash scene until his father’s body was recovered, went on to stress: “I’m going to make it a personal mission that flight data recorders are fitted on all passenger carrying aircraft. It should be mandatory. [The AAIB] said the lack of a black box seriously hampered the investigation.”
An interim report from the AAIB last year said that both engines on the Police Scotland helicopter had shut down even though there was fuel in the reserve tank.
During the briefings, relatives were told that fuel pump switches from the reserve tank were in the off position when they should have been on.
David Bell – a lawyer with the specialist aviation law firm, Irwin Mitchell, who is representing 17 of the relatives and survivors of the crash – said that he had spoken to all those he represented after they had been briefed and that their focus remained on campaigning for flight data recorders to become mandatory on such aircraft.
He said: “The common factor is that they all think more information and better information would have been obtained this way. It was made clear to them that the investigators felt hampered by the lack of information.”
Bell said that the final report was inconclusive and that he suspected many questions would remain unanswered.
