CAMPAIGNERS are to meet senior Crown Office lawyers this week to push for a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into an RAF Tornado crash that killed three people in 2012.
Flight Lieutenant Hywel Poole, 28, Flight Lieutenant Adam Sanders, 27, and Squadron Leader Samuel Bailey, 36, died in a mid-air crash between two jets over the Moray Firth in July 2012.
An investigation was carried out by the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) but local MSP Richard Lochhead is leading calls for an FAI, saying "many issues remain outstanding".
In 2015 the Crown Office considered the case but said an FAI would only repeat the MAA inquiry.
Campaigners say there is new evidence to be considered around service inquiries and risk assessments.
Lochhead is to meet the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit at the Crown Office on Tuesday to discuss the case.
He said: "We'll present to the Crown Office what we believe to be new evidence, and make the case for the issues to be properly investigated in a fully transparent and open manner.
"There is a big difference between an FAI in Scotland and the internal inquiry that was conducted by the Military Aviation Authority.
"While the MAA inquiry fulfilled an extremely important role, there should be an FAI as well.
"Legislation was changed in 2016, thanks to a successful campaign by my constituent Jimmy Jones.
"It means that if such an accident occurred today there would automatically be an FAI.
"We were disappointed when the Lord Advocate originally turned down our appeal to him to revisit his decision to reject an FAI but we welcome this further opportunity for a face-to-face meeting with his officials to press the case.
"Many issues remain outstanding and we are still waiting for the Typhoon squadrons that replaced the Tornados to be fitted with collision warning systems."
Jones, a retired RAF engineer, will also attend the meeting.
He said he was not trying to convince the Crown Office that the wrong decision was made in 2015, but that additional evidence now changed the circumstances.
Jones said: "The new evidence will focus on the fact that Service Inquiries, to use the words of Lord Philip in 2011, are an MoD internal process, and are no substitute for a legal inquiry into the cause and circumstances of a death.
"Service Inquiries are not independent, they do not involve the general public or the affected families.
"The new evidence will also address flawed risk assessment at the time of the accident, the need to satisfy the public interest requirement, and safety issues relating to the Tornado ejection seats.
"I also believe that unlike an FAI, a Service Inquiry is not compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights."
Mike Poole, whose son died in the crash, said: "My abiding motivation is to see that every action that can be taken to prevent another accident of this type is implemented.
"I believe consideration of the new evidence by an FAI would contribute to a reduction of the risks that military pilots are exposed to."
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