£40m copter crash crew ‘distracted by Ross Kemp visit’
FORMER EastEnders star Ross Kemp was a ‘factor’ in the crash of a £40million attack chopper in Afghanistan, it has emerged.
The helicopter crew’s focus was affected by a visit from the actor, a Ministry of Defence board of inquiry report revealed.
It crashed shortly after take-off at a remote base at Sangin, Helmand Province, in 2008.
The pilot jumped from the wreckage to rescue his co-pilot gunner and both escaped with minor injuries.
Hours earlier, the crew had shown Mr Kemp, 51, and his film crew around the base. The exsoap star turned documentary maker was one of a number of visitors to the helicopter on September 4, it was said. The two- man crew lost focus when taking off from the base, with the official report stating they were ‘ unconsciously distracted by external influences’.
Mr Kemp was not explicitly blamed, but the inquiry said his visit was a ‘contributory factor’ to the focus of the crew.
The report is embarrassing given the high levels of co-operation Mr Kemp enjoyed during his exploits in Afghanistan.
He was given exclusive access to the British war effort there to film two series of his acclaimed documentary, Ross Kemp in Afghanistan.
Some eight years after the crash, it has finally been revealed that the MoD board of inquiry found that a major cause of the accident was ‘disorientation’ experienced by the pilot when ‘he entered a dust cloud during a transition’. It said the crew ‘lacked sufficient experience’ for the complex operation, and had become fatigued.
It added: ‘In summary, it is clear to the Board that this acci-
‘The crew lacked experience’
dent was caused by the disorientation of the HP when conducting a poorly executed transition downwind, with inadequate aircraft performance and engulfed in heavy recirculation.
‘The Board believes that the crew lacked sufficient experience for the complex, high end, unsupervised operation, had become fatigued and were distracted at a critical juncture.’
But referring to Mr Kemp’s visit, it added: ‘Whilst not a distraction at the time of the accident the Board believes it was a contributory factor to the overall focus of the crew.’
The helicopter lost its tail in the crash, with severe damage to its rotor blades.
It came as Mr Kemp filmed the second series of his Sky One programme, awarded a Bafta for best factual show.
Following the release of the report, a spokesman for the MoD said: ‘Our highly- skilled pilots are trained to deal with all kinds of emergency situations and incidents like this are extremely rare.
‘To suggest that this was caused by the filming of a documentary would be disingenuous.’