Tributes have been paid to the 29 people killed in an RAF Chinook helicopter crash at a service to mark the 30th anniversary of the disaster. The helicopter carrying leading security personnel crashed on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula on the west coast of Scotland on June 2 1994. The aircraft was on its way from RAF Aldergrove near Belfast to a security conference in Inverness when it crashed into a hillside in thick fog.
Family, friends and colleagues of the 29 people who died on June 2 1994 gathered at Southend Parish Church on Sunday where a service to honour their memory was held at 12.30pm. Rev Roddy McNidder, who was the parish minister at the time of the crash, delivered the sermon and described the 25 passengers and four crew who died as "extraordinary people who were selflessly devoted to duty in the service of their country".
Addressing the congregation, he said: "Our service this early afternoon continues our promise that we care. "This church is here for you and your families and loved ones, to remember, to honour their memory and their service. "To bring the gift of encouragement, sensitively and graciously, and to hold fast the standards and principles they represented.
"We wish to say lovingly, that in our hearts and prayers and those of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, reaffirmed when it met in the third week of May this year, we will not forget." READ MORE: MoD accused over 'no safety issues' stance 30 years after Chinook disaster The service wa.