Injured Victims And Families ‘Unable To Move On From Helicopter Tragedy’

Lawyers representing victims of the Clutha helicopter tragedy in Glasgow have described the re-opening of the pub as an “important step forward” for the city, but warned the continued wait for answers regarding the tragedy is preventing those affected from being able to move on from the crash.

Glasgow-based lawyers at Irwin Mitchell Scotland are acting for 17 people including injured victims and the families of those killed when the Airbus police helicopter operated by Bond crashed into the pub on November 2013.

While the Air Accident Investigation Branch is continuing investigations into the crash and yet to issue a final report, interim updates from the body have confirmed both engines on the aircraft appeared to suffer fuel starvation.

Now, with the pub set to re-open around 18 months on from the tragedy, Irwin Mitchell Scotland and colleagues in Irwin Mitchell’s Aviation Law team are welcoming the move but also once again demanding that the long wait for answers regarding the tragedy comes to an end.

Since the tragedy, Irwin Mitchell Scotland has specifically raised concerns regarding how the lack of black box recording equipment on the helicopter may have hampered investigations. As part of this, the lawyers wrote to both the British and Scottish governments urging them to make it a legal requirement for the equipment to be fitted on commercial passenger-carrying helicopters flying in UK airspace.

Earlier this year, Guillaume Faury president and chief executive of Airbus Helicopters, confirmed the company is to fit all of its helicopters with cockpit voice recording and flight data recording equipment as standard.