Service held to mark 30 years since RAF Chinook disaster

A service has been held to remember the 29 people killed in an RAF Chinook helicopter crash on the 30th anniversary of the disaster.

The helicopter carrying leading security personnel crashed on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula on the west coast of Scotland on 2 June 1994.

The aircraft was on its way from RAF Aldergrove near Belfast to a security conference in Inverness when it crashed into a hillside in thick fog.

The incident was the worst RAF peacetime disaster and the reasons for the crash remain unclear.

Rev Roddy McNidder, who was the parish minister at the time of the crash, delivered the sermon at Southend Parish Church and described the 25 passengers and four crew who died as “extraordinary people who were selflessly devoted to duty in the service of their country”.

During the service, he said: “Our service this early afternoon continues our promise that we care.

“This church is here for you and your families and loved ones, to remember, to honour their memory and their service.

“To bring the gift of encouragement, sensitively and graciously, and to hold fast the standards and principles they represented.”