Soldiers sue the MOD after mid-air drama as aircraft plunged 4,400ft when pilot’s CAMERA got stuck in the controls
Passengers were thrown to the ceiling as the jet nosedived towards the sea at 15,800ft-a-minute for 27 seconds
SOLDIERS are suing the Ministry of Defence after their aircraft plunged 4,400ft when the pilot's camera got stuck in the controls.
Nine soldiers and a civil servant have claimed they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder after the incident on route from the UK to Afghanistan in 2014.
The Voyager jet, which was carrying 200 passengers, plummeted at up to 15,800ft a minute after the pilot's Nikon became wedged against controls.
A number of passengers and members of the crew were thrown against the ceiling when the jet dived towards the Black Sea from 33,000ft.
It nosedived for a tense 27 seconds before the pilot managed to gain control of the aircraft.
The pilot had been taking photos of the cockpit on his camera before it became stuck between an armrest and side-stick controller, causing the plummet towards the sea at up to 15,800ft-a-minute.
Terrifyingly the co-pilot was outside the cockpit when the plane began to fall and experienced weightlessness, but managed to fight his way to controls after pushing himself through the air.
A major, two staff sergeants, four corporals and one civilian employee are now suing the MoD for putting them at risk.
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Three were discharged from the military after the incident and a number of the 33 passengers injured are still coming to terms with the trauma.
Rhicha Kapila, an associate solicitor at law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp, is representing eight men and two women who are suing the MoD for "breaching its duty of care".
She says some of them suffer flashbacks, nightmares, mood wings and stutters which have damaged their careers, relationships and personal lives.
Kapila told the Sunday Times: "Some of them assumed the plane was being shot down over Afghanistan.
"Personal items were being propelled to the back of the plane, passengers were screaming, lots of them were crying, they could hear people saying, 'Please don't let me die'. It was a state of chaos and very frightening."
She added: "Some of these service personnel have lost their military careers, one of whom was actually due to be commissioned [as an officer]."
A Military Aviation Authority report said the captain took 28 photographs of the flight deck between eight and three minutes before the incident.
It found placing the camera between the armrest and control "created a hazard", which caused the nosedive when the pilot moved his chair forward.
It happened nearly four hours into the flight to Camp Bastion, Helmand.
The report found the pilot created a "realistic potential for the loss of the aircraft and 198 of our people".
It is understood the unnamed captain will appear before a court martial in February on perjury and negligence charges.
The MoD said: "We cannot comment on individual cases, but when compensation claims are submitted, we carefully consider whether there is a legal liability to pay compensation. When there is, we will."
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