Widow accepts damages for RAF helicopter crash

The widow of one of the victims of the 1994 RAF helicopter disaster which killed 29 people, yesterday accepted undisclosed agreed High Court damages against the Ministry of Defence.

Delyth Gregory-Smith, 42, of Guildford, Surrey, had claimed damages for bereavement after the Chinook crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, killing 25 security specialists, including her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Gregory-Smith, 42, and four RAF crew members. The settlement brings the total compensation paid out by the MoD to nearly pounds 8m. Twelve claims are still outstanding.

The helicopter crashed into a fog-covered mountain 20 minutes after take- off from RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, bound for Fort George, near Inverness. The passengers had been on their way to attend a annual gathering of experts from all areas of the security forces involved in the intelligence war against paramilitary groups in Ulster.