Computer problems rather than pilot error may have caused the 1994 crash of a British military helicopter which killed 25 top intelligence experts, the BBC reported Monday citing official documents.
An official inquiry by the British air force concluded in April 1995 the Chinook was airworthy and found the pilots guilty of gross negligence over the crash in the Mull of Kintyre, southwest Scotland.
But three subsequent inquiries were inconclusive and campaigners have insisted that flaws in the aircraft were behind the crash, the worst helicopter accident for the Royal Air Force in peacetime, according to the BBC.
An internal Ministry of Defence document obtained by the broadcaster and written nine months before the crash said software used to control the engine in the Mark 2 helicopter was "positively dangerous".
"Twenty-one category 1 and 153 category 2 anomalies have been revealed. One of these is considered to be positively dangerous," according to the document which BBC radio said was written by a senior engineering officer.
"Pilots' control of the engines through (the computer system) FADEC cannot be assured," the document said.
The Chinook crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in thick fog on June 2, 1994, killing all 29 people on board.
Those killed included 25 senior members of Northern Ireland's intelligence community, in a heavy blow to British efforts to combat terrorism.
The Ministry of Defence said the document was not new evidence and did not warrant reopening an investigation.
"Ministers have repeatedly stated that they would reopen the Board of Inquiry if any new evidence is raised," said a statement from the ministry.
"This latest information is from an RAF document; it was available to the Inquiry team and is not new evidence," it added.
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