The cause of the crash in which four police officers died in Northern Ireland last month may never be known because the “black box” recorder fitted to the 4x4 was destroyed, it has emerged.
The officers were trapped in the Mitsubishi Shogun when it was engulfed by fire after crashing on the Warrenpoint to Killkeel Road in Co Down while answering a call to help colleagues with a late night crowd disturbance.
The PSNI had hoped the black box would provide important detail on exactly what happened. But those hopes have been dashed.
A PSNI spokeswoman said: “The black box recorders fitted to the vehicles are designed to survive crashes, but on this occasion it was destroyed by the fire therefore it was not possible to retrieve data from it.
“Engineers from the manufacturing company have examined the recorder but have been unable to retrieve data.”
It is understood the German makers travelled to Belfast to try to get something out of the recorder.
There are 262 of the Shogun 4x4s in the PSNI vehicle fleet and in the wake of the crash there were questions raised about whether they were right for the job.
But the service said tonight it had “every confidence in their suitability for the job”.
Nevertheless they have sent two to England to be tested at a specialist centre. The crash was the worst police loss of life in Northern Ireland in nearly two decades.
PA