Two RAF pilots blamed for the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash that killed 29 people have effectively been cleared of causing the crash.
A British House of Lords inquiry concluded there was no justification for finding fault with the men, who died along with their 25 passengers and two other crew.
The crash happened during a flight from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Fort George, near Inverness, and remains the RAF's worst peace-time accident. Many of those killed were among Britain's most senior counter-terrorist officers working in Northern Ireland.
A British Ministry of Defence inquiry into the accident on the Mull of Kintyre on June 2nd, 1994, had accused the two special forces pilots, Mr Jonathan Tapper and Mr Richard Cook, of "gross negligence", which infuriated their families.
But doubts were later raised about the reliability of new computer software used to fly the aircraft. An all-party select committee of five peers has cast doubt on the ministry's finding.
They said: "We unanimously conclude that the reviewing officers were not justified in finding that negligence on the part of the pilots caused the aircraft to crash".
The Lords say their conclusion was based on all the evidence before them and the fact that the standard of proof required for blaming a pilot should leave "absolutely no doubt whatsoever".
The news will be welcomed by the families of the pilots.
PA