RAF crew unaware of mine danger
Published Date:
14 October 2008
By JOE CLAPSON
AN RAF Chinook helicopter landed in the middle of a minefield because its crew were not told of the danger, an inquest heard yesterday.
The aircraft put down in an area littered with Soviet anti-personnel devices to rescue injured British servicemen.
Corporal Mark Wright, 27, died and three other soldiers lost legs in the tragedy after a sniper team was trapped in the minefield and their comrades went to rescue them.
Cpl Wright, from Edinburgh, was awarded a posthumous George Cross.
He suffered fatal injuries to his chest, thought to have been caused when a rock or kit was blown on to a mine by the Chinook as it answered the soldiers' appeals for it to leave the site, in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Yesterday, the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Giles Edwards, said the Immediate Response Team believed the area was safe, but had since learned the entire area was mined.
The inquest, at Oxford Coroner's Court, continues.
The full article contains 163 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
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Last Updated:
13 October 2008 9:45 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
