The father of a man killed in the Clutha pub when a helicopter crashed through the roof has criticised air accident investigators’ “cack-handed” response to the crash.
Ian O’Prey, whose son Mark was among 10 people killed in the crash, has questioned why the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) does not have the power to enforce its recommendations.
The AAIB has recommended the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) “requires” all police helicopters to be “equipped with a recording capability that captures data, audio and images in crash survivable memory”.
But Mr O’Prey said a similar recommendation in the past has not been acted upon.
Following a fatal air ambulance crash in July 1998, the AAIB recommended the CAA should “encourage the development” of lightweight and low-cost flight recorders, and “consider” whether they should be used in emergency service helicopters.
The report also concluded the pilot did not follow emergency procedures after a fuel warning in the cockpit.
Investigators found that two fuel supply switches were off yet the helicopter continued to carry out three surveillance jobs over nearby Lanarkshire rather than land.
Mr O’Prey told the Press Association: “I won’t swear but that’s how I felt after speaking to the AAIB.
“We waited two years to be told that the switches were off. I went in there expecting nothing and nothing is what I got.
“I ended up arguing with some of the other families because they couldn’t understand the relevance of what was being discussed. It was all technical jargon.
“It got quite heated but they calmed us down.
“My question was why couldn’t they lift the aircraft out quicker. I couldn’t understand why it took so long but all I got back was total bullshit.
“They just said the switches were off, but they don’t know why they were off and they would never know why they were off.
“They didn’t apportion any blame at all and I don’t want to go down that road because the pilot’s family have to listen to all the nonsense that is being said.
“I don’t have any proof, but I think it was a machine malfunction. I know from household electrical equipment that switches can just trip, so maybe that’s a possibility.
“The AAIB can only make recommendations. What is the point in that?
“They’ve recommended flight data recorders be installed before, but there’s still aircraft flying around without them, so what good has it done? It’s a bit of a cack-handed effort, to be honest.”
Mr O’Prey also criticised the NHS, claiming hospitals were not properly equipped to deal with a disaster of such magnitude at the weekend.
He added: “The hospitals weren’t equipped to deal with a situation of that size on a Friday night. There are no consultants on.
“I go to the hospital quite a lot because I have a bad chest but I would have to be dying to go to hospital on Friday night because there’s nobody in.
“If you’re going to a pub in Glasgow tonight, watch yourself because there’s nobody there to look after you.”