Prince William’s former flying instructor has died of cancer after spending nine years inhaling toxic exhaust fumes from Sea King helicopters while serving in the RAF.
Zach Stubbings, an ex-flight sergeant, told The Times last year he was trying to make the most of each day he had left, saying: “You can sit there and cry about it but that’s the hand you’ve been dealt.”
The father of three, 47, has left behind his wife, Anna-Louise, who a decade ago had lost her first husband and seven-year-old son when they were knocked over and killed by a careless driver.
The Sea Kings are at the centre of a scandal engulfing the military which has seen dozens of service personnel suffering from life-threatening cancers such as multiple myeloma, lung cancer and testicular cancer after serving on a number of helicopters.
Sick personnel and their family members have claimed the Ministry of Defence knew about the potential risks to its personnel for more than a decade and did nothing about it.
After a series of revelations in The Times, the MoD launched an investigation last year to examine all military helicopters that might be emitting toxic exhaust fumes.
Ministers are now trying to find out how many military personnel have been diagnosed with cancer after serving on the helicopters.
• Zach Stubbings: The Sea King helicopters I flew with Prince William were giving me cancer
Troops who flew in Sea King, Wessex and more recently Puma and Chinook helicopters have been affected.
Richard Sutton, a former navy commander who first met Stubbings when they both worked for the coastguard carrying out search and rescue in 2015, said he died in January after going into a hospice a few weeks earlier.
He said he had been in a WhatsApp group with Stubbings and six other former military aircrew, all of whom were suffering from cancer. Sutton has suffered from nine tumours since his first cancer diagnosis in 2011.
Only two of the eight former members are still alive, after six of them died in the past 20 months, Sutton said. “There’s only two of us left. It really brings home the reality of the seriousness of the situation. In a way I feel lucky I am still here. This is not an issue that’s gone away,” he said on Tuesday.
He said Stubbings’s death was a “shock”, adding “he was a lively and bubbly guy”. His favourite catch-phrase was “happy days” which he would say with a smile on his face and he was a “big family man”, he said.
He said Stubbings’s wife had been “very strong”, adding: “She’s obviously found it difficult over the last few months and this year losing Zach was yet another massive blow. She seems to have been incredibly strong and coping as best as anyone can hope you would cope.”
In May last year Stubbings gave an interview to The Times, saying: “My life expectancy was ten years, I was told, and for me I have outlived my life expectancy.”
At the time he was spending a couple of days away for half-term with just himself and his “little boy”, who was then 14 — and was just a toddler when his father was told he had a terminal illness.
The RAF flight sergeant had spent 15 years serving in the RAF between 2000 to 2015.
Asked how he was coping, he said “you do what you can”, adding: “It does affect you but you make the most you can out of it. You can sit there and cry about it, but that’s the hand you’ve been dealt. I could have had my legs blown off.”
Stubbings was one of five people who received payouts from the MoD after being diagnosed with cancer. It took him six years to get them to admit that the fumes caused his cancer. He said that in the later years of his career, after his diagnosis, the MoD provided him with an “amazing” support network, although said he had been handed a “small settlement” as a result.
Stubbings trained Prince William, who spent three years flying the search-and-rescue helicopters when he was based at RAF Valley, Anglesey, between 2010 to 2013.
Dozens of cancer sufferers and their families are in the process of suing the MoD.
Clare Macnaughton’s husband, Kai, died last year three weeks after being diagnosed with angiosarcoma, a rare form of blood vessel cancer, while still serving in the RAF. The squadron leader had been exposed to the toxic fumes for two decades while flying thousands of hours in Puma helicopters as a navigator and later as a pilot in Chinook helicopters.
Macnaughton said Stubbings was a “courageous pioneer”. She added: “He paved the way for other service personnel to stand up to the MoD and challenge the status quo. Without his bravery and fearlessness there would not be other cancer sufferers with confidence to confront the MoD.
“When I spoke to him, he told me that the reason the military settled out of court it was because they didn’t want him to disclose in the court room the evidence he and his team had unearthed.
“Service personnel are conditioned to obey orders, and to serve their country unconditionally so to discover that the very organisation you dedicated your life to with pride and commitment has knowingly poisoned you is the ultimate betrayal.”
She said the MoD “should be ashamed — they have blood on their hands”.
Louisa Donaghy, senior associate at Hugh James solicitors, representing many of the families, said: “The tragic death of Flight Sergeant Zach Stubbings is a heartbreaking loss, highlighting the devastating impact of prolonged exposure to helicopter exhaust fumes. Zach’s dedicated service came at a terrible cost, and his battle with multiple myeloma underscores the urgent need for accountability. The MoD must take responsibility and support those affected.”
An MOD spokesperson said: “Any death is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Zack Stubbings at this difficult time.
“We take the health of our personnel extremely seriously and regularly review our processes to ensure that we’re doing what we can to keep our people safe.
“We are in the process of testing the exhaust emissions of in-service helicopters, to ensure that we are meeting our duty of care for personnel. It is essential that we can assure our people of their safety at work.”
