Episode description
Dr Susan Phoenix is an unconventional psychologist who has transformed profound personal loss into a lifelong mission to help others navigate grief and institutional betrayal.

On 2nd June 1994, Susan’s husband, Detective Superintendent Ian Phoenix of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, was killed when RAF Chinook Zulu Delta 576 crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. All 29 people on board died, including the majority of the UK’s senior Northern Ireland intelligence and counter-terrorism experts.

For 17 years, the two pilots were wrongly blamed for gross negligence whilst institutions protected their own reputations. Susan joined the fight to clear their names whilst navigating her own devastating grief. The verdict was eventually overturned, but 31 years later, fundamental questions remain unanswered because the UK Government has sealed the official files for 100 years.

Susan is the author of ‘Out of the shadows: a journey from grief’ and worked with journalist Jack Holland to tell Ian’s story in ‘Phoenix: policing the shadows’ - now available as an audiobook narrated by her son, Niven. She uses her expertise as a psychologist and her lived experience of institutional betrayal to help others fighting for truth whilst grieving profound loss.

Content warning
This episode discusses death, bereavement, military crashes, institutional cover-ups, gaslighting, and the long-term psychological impact of unresolved grief and institutional betrayal. Please take care whilst listening.

Key quotes
“The coffins were closed. That was the biggest thing to me… I had been a military nurse, I had seen bodies, I had seen all kinds of things, and I remember begging and saying, look, it’s just a piece of skin, I need to see it”

“They threw those boys under the bus. They were scapegoated and they kept that going for a long time. 17 years. The families of the pilots fought for 17 years to clear their son’s names to protect somebody’s reputation”

“I was gaslit by many people across many agencies… people would say, well, you know, Susan, don’t make a fuss because the other widows, they wouldn’t like it”

“I do know the Ministry of Defence are waiting for us older widows to die off. Of course they were, it made sense. The fact they have now closed the documents for 100 years”

“It’s not just a historical issue, it’s about transparency, accountability and justice for the 29 people and their families who died as a result of someone choosing the wrong, un-airworthy aircraft”

“The danger, the arrogance that they can allow our young servicemen and women just to be the old fashioned cannon fodder. Nobody cares… This is wrong. And that’s what’s kept me going for 31 years”

“Sealing files for 100 years isn’t accountability – it’s institutional cover-up at its most extreme”

Contact
Follow @addresstheharm on social media
Visit addresstheharm.org
Email: press@addresstheharm.org

For ALL Chinook media enquiries, contact: tim@timreidmedia.com

Take action
Support our crowdfunding campaign at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/addresstheharm
Share this episode to amplify survivors' voices
Support the Chinook Justice Campaign and sign their petition demanding the files be unsealed https://www.chinookjusticecampaign.co.uk/
Download the white paper at www.addresstheharm.org

Address The Harm®️is hosted by Leah Brown FRSA, founder of The WayFinders Group and architect of the Coalition for Institutional Accountability.

Copyright 2025, production copyright Leah Talks Ltd. All rights reserved.