Clutha families left with more questions than answers

The families of those who died in the Clutha helicopter disaster have said the final report into the incident leaves “more questions than answers”.

A private meeting was held yesterday between air crash investigators, the families and their lawyers in Glasgow.

For more than three hours they discussed the findings of the 102-page report which was completed following a two-year investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Three people on the Eurocopter EC 135 died when it crashed into the Clutha bar in Glasgow in November 2013. Seven people inside the pub were also killed.

While families said the report was unsatisfactory they could not reveal details as the report will not be officially released until tomorrow.

Jim Morris, a partner at Irwin Mitchell who represents the families of three of the victims said it leaves “more unanswered questions”.

He said the fact there was no black box recorded on the helicopter hampered the investigation.

Ian O’Prey, the father of Mark, 44, who died in the pub, said: “We didn’t find out that much. I was highly technical jargon.

“Three hours we were in there and my head was burling with it. The switches weren’t right that control the fuel tanks.”

He added they could not explain why the switches were not right, saying: “We’ve waited two years to hear that.”

Mr Morris added: “It is not absolutely clear why the fuel did not reach the engines. Obviously, the victims are subject to this confidentiality clause but there are so many unanswered questions.

“The report goes into significant detail in its analysis but it is clear from what is said in the report that they can’t answer all the questions to determine the full chain of events which caused the fuel to not reach these engines.”

He added that the absence of a black box compounded the problem, saying: “The AAIB have spent almost two years working extremely hard in the absence of this crucial piece of real time evidence to piece together what happened.”

“This is a 102-page accident report which is very detailed and goes into great detail on the human factors and the technical factors in terms of trying to identify what caused this accident.

“But it is clear that from this report that the lack of a flight data recorder has hampered the investigation and for that reason there are an awful lot of unanswered questions about this accident.”