The widower of a police officer killed after a force helicopter crashed into the Clutha pub in Glasgow has said he is “deeply concerned and frustrated” by the outcome of an inquiry.
Mark Nelis’s wife Kirsty was one of three who died on board the helicopter when the Police Scotland aircraft crashed on to the pub roof on November 29, 2013, killing seven customers.
Speaking out after a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) concluded that Captain Dave Traill’s failure to ensure at least one of the fuel transfer pump switches was switched on had caused the crash, Mr Nelis said the pilot was “trusted implicitly” by his wife.
The widow of her colleague Tony Collins, who also died in the crash, said he had felt the same way.
- READ MORE: Clutha helicopter disaster inquiry findings 'do no justice' to victims says fiancée of pilot
Criticising Sheriff Principal Craig Turnbull’s ruling, Mr Nelis said: “Following the FAI determination, we find ourselves deeply concerned and frustrated with both Principal Sheriff Turnbull’s comments and the Air Accident Investigation Branch and its report.
“The sheriff principal, in his determination, apportioned blame to Dave, which we found to be very disappointing.
“He has commented that the pilot ‘took a chance’ and made a ‘conscious decision’ to ignore the fuel warnings.
“We find these conclusions surprising given the surrounding evidence that the aircraft had numerous fuel reading issues prior to the incident and that a number of design changes have been made to this aircraft type since.”
He added: “No-one knows, nor will ever know, exactly what circumstances led Captain Traill to make the decisions he did and the determination has not changed mine or my family’s confidence and faith in him.
“We also have deep concerns with regards to the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Branch, whom we believe should provide a fresh independent report in light of this determination as well as releasing all forms of their report as it developed.”
He said a draft report was sent to interested parties before a final version was released late with “key points” changed without families being informed. Lucy Collins believes her late husband would have wanted her to reiterate his confidence in Captain Traill’s ability.
“He trusted Dave implicitly as the hugely experienced and skilled pilot he was,” she said.
“I feel this is important information that Tony would have wanted me to share.
“I felt that Tony’s unwavering trust in Dave Traill was the most important and relevant information that we could contribute to the FAI.”
Their comments follow Captain Traill’s fiancee, Dr Lucy Thomas, accusing the sheriff principal of opting to “sully” the pilot’s “distinguished reputation”.
Dr Thomas said: “He chose not to concentrate on the fact the EC135 model of helicopter has a history of faults with the caution advisory display – specifically, a history of erroneous or spurious fuel indications, amongst other technical problems such as contamination of the fuel tanks – issues still never fully resolved by the manufacturer.
“Instead, the Sheriff Principal has opted to sully the distinguished reputation of a pilot with an exemplary record who was renowned for his sense of responsibility and his regard for the safety of his crew.
The opportunity for closure and maybe some peace for so many people has been denied.”
More than 100 people were in the pub when the helicopter crashed while heading back to base. The inquiry concluded the crash happened when the helicopter engines flamed out sequentially while airborne due to fuel starvation after the supply tank was depleted.
Mr Turnbull ruled the incident could have been prevented if the pilot had followed emergency procedures relating to low fuel warnings.
An Air Accident Investigation Branch spokesman said: “The AAIB stands by its final report and that, as the FAI has now concluded, the AAIB has no further comment to make.” The Crown Office declined to comment.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel