Clutha pilot’s fiancée: Crash report denies victims justice
●Claims that the reputation of Captain David Traill ‘sullied’ by inquiry findings
The fiancée of the helicopter pilot who died in the Clutha crash has described the Fatal Accident Inquiry’s findings as “distressing and incomprehensible” and said her partner’s reputation had been “sullied”.
David Traill was one of three crew members who died along with seven customers when the Police Scotland aircraft fell on to the Glasgow bar on 29 November 2013.
The inquiry into the crash concluded it was caused by the captain’s failure to ensure that at least one of the fuel transfer pump switches was set to on.
In a statement nearly a week after the inquiry’s findings, Mr Traill’s fiancée, Dr Lucy Thomas, broke her silence to criticise the decision of Sheriff Principal Craig Turnbull.
Dr Thomas said she had been compelled to respond after feeling “overwhelmed by the support that I have received from so many people, many of whom don’t know me and didn’t know Dave”.
“It insults the intelligence of those who know of the evidence presented at the inquiry and are aware of the content of the initial AAIB report.
“Disbelief has been expressed by many family members of those who died and by members of the public at the conclusion drawn by Sheriff Principal Turnbull, who incredulously stated that Dave consciously took risks which caused the accident.
“This expression of disbelief speaks volumes and means much more to me than the opinion of the sheriff principal.
“I find it distressing and incomprehensible that, given months, not moments, to consider the facts, the sheriff principal has come to this conclusion.”
She added: “He chose not to concentrate on the fact that 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 contaminationofthefueltanks,issuesstill 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.”
The inquiry concluded the crash happened after the helicopter’s engines flamed out sequentially while it was airborne, as a result of fuel starvation due to depletion of the contents of the supply tank.
In his determination, Mr Turnbull said the incident could have been prevented if the pilot had followed emergency procedures relating to low fuel warnings.
Dr Thomas said: “It is my understanding that due to misleading information from the aircraft fuel gauge and display system, Dave had only moments to make decisions and to respond to this issue.
“It is also my understanding that he should have had a significantly longer timescale in which to do so before the helicopter would lose both engines.
“The manufacturer’s aircraft maintenance manual incorrectly recorded that the flameout time between engines was three to four minutes. This was incorrect information.
Due to the design of the fuel tanks, he had only 32 seconds.
“That 32 seconds ended in tragedy and the loss of his and nine other valuable lives.”
The 32-day inquiry, which took evidence from victims’ families, experts and eyewitnesses, heard that five low fuel warnings sounded during the helicopter’s final flight.
Mr Turnbull said the pilot’s checklist for the aircraft stated that it should be landed within ten minutes of a fuel warning being acknowledged. The sheriff described Captain Traill’s failure to follow this procedure as “inexplicable”, adding that he “took a chance that the low fuel warnings he received were erroneous”.
He added: “That was a conscious decision on his part. It was a decision that had fatal consequences for ten people.”
He said the pilot appeared to have “overlooked” that he had already turned one of the fuel pumps off when he turned the second one off 11 minutes later.
The inquiry found no evidence to suggest that Captain Traill had deliberately caused the helicopter to crash and said he appeared to make a desperate attempt to land the aircraft safely after the engines failed.
The pilot and two crew members on the helicopter, PC Tony Collins, 43, and PC Kirsty Nelis, 36, were killed along with seven Clutha customers – Gary Arthur, 48, Joe Cusker, 59, Colin Gibson, 33, Robert Jenkins, 61, John Mcgarrigle, 58, Samuel Mcghee, 56, and Mark O’prey, 44.