THE families of the teenage air cadet victims of a helicopter crash believe they will now be forced to turn to the courts for justice.

The parents of Christopher Bailey, 15, and 17-year-old Amanda Whitehead have vowed to continue to fight for an official apology from the Ministry of Defence.

The youngsters died, along with 17-year-old Mark Oakden, of Bury, while at a summer training camp in North Wales.

The Wessex helicopter they were travelling in plunged into deep waters in Llyn Padarn, Llanberis. A TV documentary which featured the crash over Anglesey in 1993 was screened at the end of last week on Channel Four.

Although the families found the documentary difficult to watch they said, it has once again brought the matter to a head.

The mother of 15-year-old Christopher, Linda Bailey, of Berne Avenue, Horwich, said the programme had left the families "shattered ".

She said: "The programme just served to prove that what we always knew was true."

The programme-makers featured the 1993 crash along with other RAF air tragedies and maintained mechanical error played its part in the youngsters' deaths.

The father of Amanda Whitehead, Stephen Whitehead, of Brandlesholme, Bury, said the programme proved the issues surrounding the crash in which his daughter died were "still ongoing". Faults in training and procedures, equipment and the cadets' briefing were other vital issues, said Mr Whitehead, which could not be overlooked.

He said: "All we are asking is that the MOD accept responsibility and apologise for what happened."

His wife, Sandra, added: "They take our children from us but we are the ones who are serving the life sentence."

Mr Whitehead said it appeared "impossible to fight something as big as the MOD. They just want to sweep us under the carpet".

But, he added, the families would not give in and were still determined to fight the matter in court, should it be necessary.

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