Category: 3. Business

At least 180 current and former armed forces aircrew with cancer they claim was caused by exposure to toxic fumes in helicopters are pursuing the Ministry of Defence for compensation.

RAF flight sergeant Zach Stubbings, who died aged 47 in January, is one of at least six people who have received an out-of-court settlement from the MoD although the MoD has not admitted liability.

A group that represents veterans has urged the MoD to take swift action to protect those still serving and also raise awareness among former servicemen and women.

The MoD said it believed engine exhaust emissions were of no risk to health but it was conducting monitoring to demonstrate this.

The Sea King was used in British military operations between 1969 and 2018 and has in the past been flown by both King Charles and the Prince of Wales.

The Westland Wessex was retired in 2003 while the Puma and the CH-47 Chinook are both still in use.

Diseases contracted by some of the crew who flew the helicopters include lung cancer, throat cancer, testicular cancer and some rare forms of blood cancer.

Flight sergeant Zach, who trained the Prince of Wales on RAF Sea King helicopters at RAF Valley in north Wales, was 33 when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of blood cancer that mainly affects those over the age of 65.

“He started to think, ‘hang on a minute, I’m a 33-year-old man who’s had this diagnosis of a blood cancer that isn’t common in men in their thirties… I’m going to look into it’,” recalled his widow Anna-Louise.

She is the founder of an organ donation charity which she set up nine years ago after her husband Stuart and seven-year-old son Fraser were killed by a careless driver.

She met Zach when he contacted her charity Believe after receiving a stem cell transplant before marrying in 2020.

“He was appreciating every day after his struggles with this illness and I was just appreciating being part of a team again, having somebody that just completely had my back,” said Anna-Louise.

Zach knew his time was limited and was determined to understand the cause of his cancer and spread awareness. He later discovered others who had worked on military aircraft had also received a cancer diagnosis.

“Zach was never bitter, he wasn’t vengeful at all, he was the most kind man and he adored his years of service,” said Anna-Louise.

Zach’s case was settled without the MoD admitting liability.

“That settlement for Zach allowed him the opportunity to have some kind of recompense but more importantly, to be able to make some memories,” said Anna-Louise.

Now she is focused on continuing Zach’s work to encourage the MoD to launch a cancer screening programme and raise awareness of the issue to aircrew and veterans.

“How many more people are not aware?” she said.

“How many people don’t know because they have not been screened? How many people don’t know what’s around the corner?”.

Zach’s solicitor Louisa Donaghy has been working through the inquiries from veterans and aircrew with cancer and has so far submitted 50 claims.

“I do feel that is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Louisa, a senior associate in Hugh James’ military department in Cardiff.

“There will be people out there that don’t know they’ve got cancer and also that will be diagnosed in the future.”

Ms Donaghy said for each of the six claims she had settled without any admission of liability by the MoD, she had to establish that the MoD had a duty of care to its employees and that the duty had been breached.

Ms Donaghy added: “The people that I’m representing through no fault of their own have been exposed unnecessarily for long periods of time – and for thousands of flying hours – to these toxic fumes and these could have been prevented had the MoD given additional PPE such as filtration masks, which would have narrowed and lowered the levels of exposure.”

One charity for veterans has called for the MoD to be more proactive raising awareness.

“I don’t think the MoD are going far enough,” said Graham Jones of Woody’s Lodge.

“We need to get that message out to the veterans’ community and get people through a screening process so we can get an early indication of cancer and then we might be able to get a better survival rate within those veterans that are suffering.

Mr Jones said many veterans where he lives in north Wales were unaware of the issue.

“We all knew when we served in the armed forces there were going to be certain risks, but they were from conflict,” he said.

“You don’t expect it from the equipment that you’re using.”

Zach’s local Welsh Parliament member wants PPE introduced for those still serving on Puma and Chinook helicopters and has called for a cancer screening programme for personnel and veterans.

“It’s really important to remember that there’s human beings at the end of this, there’s families at the end of this who are very anxious… and my constituent has died,” said Cardiff North MS Julie Morgan.

“It’s a matter of huge concern. The MoD should be as transparent as it possibly can be and I urge the MoD to carry on their investigations as swiftly as they can because it’s owed to people.”

The MoD said it believed engine exhaust emissions were of no risk to health but it was conducting monitoring to enable it to demonstrate this.

In May, the Independent Medical Expert Group (IMEG), which advises the MoD, reviewed evidence about a possible link between exhaust emissions from Sea King helicopters and rare cancers, specifically multiple myeloma and leiomyosarcoma, and found insufficient evidence to establish a clear causal relationship.

“We take the health of our personnel extremely seriously and regularly review our processes to ensure that we’re doing our utmost to keep our people safe,” it said in a statement.

It added: “Any death is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Zach Stubbings.”