Families of the victims of the Clutha pub disaster in Glasgow are expected to hear the findings of an official inquiry into the crash tonight.
Ten people died and many more were injured when a police helicopter plunged on to the roof of the Clutha Vaults, a city centre pub, in December 2013, but it has taken almost two years for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) to complete its report.
Lawyers for families of the dead and injured said they hoped “answers will finally be provided”.
Last year, in the second of two interim reports, the AAIB said that both engines failed, but the cause was not outlined. Those initial findings suggested the engines had “flamed out” before the helicopter crashed into the packed bar at 10.22pm, killing the pilot and two police constables on board and seven people in the pub.
This evening, the AAIB will hold the first of two meetings with some of the bereaved to discuss the findings in its final report before its publication. A second meeting with others affected by the crash is likely to held tomorrow.
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David Bell, a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell Scotland, which is representing 17 people, said: “All of those we represent have faced an incredibly difficult two years, waiting for any form of information on how this terrible incident came to occur.
“The effect of this wait cannot be overestimated, as many have simply been unable to move on or come to terms with the incident as a result of the long silence on this matter.”
The helicopter pilot, David Traill, who was attached to Police Scotland’s air support unit, as well as police constables Tony Collins and Kirsty Nelis, were killed when the helicopter crashed into the building.
Inside the pub, John McGarrigle, 57, Mark O’Prey, 44, Gary Arthur, 48, Colin Gibson, 33, Robert Jenkins, 61, and Samuel McGhee, 56, died when the weight of the helicopter brought a gantry crashing down. Joe Cusker, 59, was pulled from the wreckage alive but died in hospital 13 days later.
It has been suggested that the lack of black box recording equipment on the helicopter may have hampered the AAIB investigation.
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The families’ lawyers have written to both the UK and Scottish governments urging them to make it a legal requirement for the equipment to be fitted on all commercial passenger-carrying helicopters flying in UK airspace.
It has since been confirmed that the European Aviation Safety Agency is in the process of reviewing the rules applying to helicopters.
Jim Morris, a former RAF pilot and a partner in Irwin Mitchell’s aviation law team, said the AAIB report had to tackle a number of serious concerns. “The central question is, what caused both engines of a modern helicopter to flame out?” he said.