By a Newsnet.scot reporter
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon assured the families of the police helicopter crash that she was sure more would be known about the cause of the tragedy, as she attended the Glasgow bar’s re-opening last night.
She spoke at the event, which was attended by relatives of the 10 killed in the incident on November 29 2013, as well as several survivors.
Seven men inside the Clydeside bar were killed when the Police Scotland helicopter, operated by Bond, crashed through the roof. The pilot and two police officers aboard the aircraft also died.
Tribute was paid to the families, the dead, and the emergency services at the event.
Clutha owner Alan Crossan said that, with more than 600 days passed, it was time for Bond to be more open. The long awaited Air Accident Investigation Branch inquiry into the incident has still to be published, despite various deadlines passing.
“Bond have to think about people instead of thinking of their balance sheet,” commented Mr Crossan.
The First Minister paid tribute to Mr Crossan’s “resilience and perseverance” in trying to re-open the bar, and also as a leading figure of the Clutha Trust, set up to help young people in the wake of the crash.
“people and in particular the families of those who died there, deserve an answer. I very much hope that in the not too distant future those answers will be provided,” she added.
There has been considerable disquiet about the delay of the AAIB report, and also about rumoured delays in insurance pay-outs — particularly by Bond’s insurers — as well as a claimed lack of transparency in the disbursement of cash from an appeal fund administered by Glasgow City Council.
