Legal News

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that a routine helicopter flight which ended in the deaths of five servicemen in Afghanistan was a “tragic accident”.

The servicemen who died have been named as Captain Thomas Clarke, Warrant Officer Spencer Faulkner, Corporal James Walters – all of the Army Air Corps (AAC).

They died along with Flight Lieutenant Rakesh Chauhan of the Royal Air Force and Army Reservist Lance Corporal Oliver Thomas of the Intelligence Corps, aged 26, who was the youngest to die in the crash.

The accident happened on a routine flight over Kandahar province in Afghanistan on Saturday morning (27/04/14).

The incident is being investigated, but the MoD says that there is no evidence that the Lynx helicopter was shot down by the Taliban.

The Taliban have claimed that they shot the helicopter down, despite MoD denials of this.

It is reported that the helicopter would have been armed with a machine gun and was adapted for operations In Afghanistan.

BBC News reports that Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed that the fleet of Lynx Mk 9A has been judged safe enough to operate while the crash is investigated.

The area round Kandahar airfield has been cordoned off while investigations into the crash are ongoing.

The former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Richard Kemp, told the BBC that the Taliban are “masters of propaganda” – and shooting down the Lynx would be “a feather in their hat”. However, he added the Taliban have in the past claimed to be responsible for events which have not actually taken place. Col Kemp said:

"The Taliban are masters of propaganda – they claim huge numbers of things that haven't actually happened.”

"Of course it's a feather in their hat if they've managed to shoot down a British helicopter – but if the MoD is saying, 'It's not been shot down, it's a technical problem', then I certainly believe that."

Col Kemp said that retrieving the wreckage of the Lynx and the bodies of the servicemen who died would be a “hazardous operation”.

"This is a territory the Taliban operate in fairly extensively, so it will require a large number of troops and they themselves will be at considerable risk," he said.

David Cameron said the incident highlighted how the British Armed Forces are putting their lives on the line to help the people of Afghanistan.

"I cannot pay high enough tribute to each and every one of them for the job that they do and the sacrifices that they make," the Prime Minister said in response to news of the crash.

The fleet of Lynx helicopters in Afghanistan was fitted out by the company AgustaWestland. The company’s website says that CTS800-4N engines were fitted, with alterations made to the main gear box, top deck structure and rear fuselage – as well as the cockpit, where the updated engine controls and digital displays are located.

The helicopters were upgraded to cope with the hot weather conditions while carrying heavy loads at higher altitudes than normal.

AgustaWestland started work on the upgrade of the Lynx helicopters for Afghanistan under an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) contract with the MoD, signed in December 2008.

AgustaWestland also trained aircrew and ground crew working with the upgraded Lynx fleet.

The Lynx helicopter currently holds the helicopter world speed record.

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