Official truth, applied deconstruction and post-inquiry sensemaking in the Mull of Kintyre helicopter crash

Abstract

On 2 June 1994, an RAF Chinook helicopter crashed into the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland, killing all crew members and intelligence personnel on board. In this article, we analyse the 17-year campaign to set aside the finding of gross negligence against the two pilots. Existing literature has tended to focus on sensemaking during the inquiries that typically follow an accident, crisis, or disaster. However, we have a more limited understanding of the post-inquiry sensemaking occurring after an inquiry has published its findings. Drawing insights from the sociology of science and sociology of knowledge, we conceptualise post-inquiry sensemaking as three phases involving a ‘black box’ being constructed and closed, re-opened and overturned. We propose the concept of ‘applied deconstruction’ to make sense of the latter two phases. We identify the components of the ‘engine of applied deconstruction’, namely: animated actors who seek to ‘open the black box’; the building of a coalition that spans institutional sites of power; activities of discrediting the official version and crediting alternative versions; and activities of ‘lamination’ that build successive ‘layers’ of doubt. We conclude by discussing the implications arising from our case for advancing the understanding of post-inquiry sensemaking.