Fuel leaks may have killed Merseyside airmen

Oct 27 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

A proud Pamela Swarbrick follows the coffin of her son, Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, during his funeral - Picture: EDDIE BARFORD (200)

OFFICIALS within the RAF ignored warnings that its Nimrod aircraft were unsafe before one exploded over Afghanistan killing three Merseyside airmen, it has been claimed.

Graham Knight, from Bridgwater, said leaked emails had exposed a “horrifying can of worms” surrounding the death of his son Ben, 25, who was one of the 14 airmen killed.

Mr Knight last night criticised the RAF for allowing the ageing plane to fly despite a history of potentially dangerous fuel leaks.

He also claims to have received internal RAF emails leaked by the servicemen concerned over the safety of the aircraft they fly.

The incident in Afghanistan in September last year remains the single biggest loss of Britain's armed forces since the Falklands.

Flight Lieutenant Allan Squires, 39, from Clatterbridge, Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, 28, and Sergeant John Langton, 29, both from Liverpool, were among those who died when the Nimrod MR2 came down 12 miles west of Kandahar on September 2.

Initially, it was thought that a technical fault was responsible but it is now understood that the official report – due to be published in about two weeks – will pinpoint a serious fuel leak as the cause.

If the board of inquiry report concludes a fuel leak was to blame for the crash, there are likely to be serious repercussions for the RAF, which could be accused of risking the lives of the crews.

Mr Knight obtained a Freedom of Information request detailing how, two years before the accident, the MoD did not act on manufacturer BAE Systems' recommendations that a fire detection system should be fitted.

Mr Knight then revealed the content of the internal warnings over the safety of the Nimrod, used mainly as an intelligence-gathering platform in Afghanistan.

“I have evidence that a fuel leak caused the crash and the Service was fully aware of the ri sk months beforehand.

“I believe the RAF killed my son and all those on board,” he said.

Mr Knight said: “The more I have dug, the deeper the conspiracy gets – essentially, I think the major failures have been down to communication problems.”

Mr Knight said that the e-mails had been leaked to him from high-ranking RAF officers.

He added: “I have had a lot of people contact me from the RAF and MoD. There are so many people within the organisations who are not happy with what has been going on.

“It has opened up a horrifying can of worms.”

The MoD has already admitted that the fleet of Nimrods has suffered leaks in the past.

A spokesman for the ministry said: “If we didn’t have confidence in the aircraft, we would not continue to fly them.’’

carolineinnes