If they are not Flt Sgt Copping’s remains, we would wish to search the original site of the crash, if that is possible, but first we must be able to examine the remains that were found.

I looked back at the “other” thread and note that the poster is from Fife. Who could it be I wonder?

I have just heard that the head of the Forensic lab in Cairo has stated quite clearly that NO request was made to examine the bones suspected to possibly be those of Dennis Copping, that they have NOT been recovered from the desert, so NO DNA test has been done. So, the message from the Defence Attaché to me that the bones were examined locally in Egypt and found not to yield DNA is VERY difficult to fathom. As he will not answer any more questions from me I have contacted the MOD in England, who should reply within the next few days (I hope).

This is very frustrating and I just cannot understand why the situation seems to be getting more and more devious. All we want to do is to prove whether the remains found near the crash site could be those of Dennis Copping, or that they definitely are not his. Is that so difficult, when we have the technical ability to do it?

What are we missing?

Sounds like good news. Happy memories of flying with Oxford UAS at Bicester 1961 to 1964.

Jack: good that you are out of hospital!
You may be right about the Easter holidays (for MOD, rather than Embassy). It was the date given to me by the MOD executive I wrote to to ask for details of what the h… was going on. She said she would reply after 9 April. More news soon, I hope.

I wonder! I have contacted the MOD and await a reply after 9 April!

It is true that hot, dry conditions may lead to degradation of DNA, but that has not stopped people sequencing DNA from Egyptian mummies. After hundreds or thousands of years the DNA will certainly be degraded, but it is usually possible to go a long way to identifying sequences that can be compared with, for example, DNA from possibly related persons. In the case of the Egyptian Kittyhawk, the bones that were found had only been there for about 70 years (if they are those of the pilot, which is not sure). I am very surprised to hear from the Defence Attaché that the bones were unsuitable for DNA testing. That suggests that if any testing was done it was not on Flt Sgt Copping’s remains, but rather something much older. We just do not know.

But what worries me most is that the original discoverers of the bones last year say that they left them in the desert and that they were not recovered since. That is the real mystery to me. Sadly the Defence Attaché tells me he cannot answer any more questions, and so I cannot know who did the testing, when or how.

That’s what I would like to do Peter.