Government 'sorry' for Nimrod crash deaths

Dec 5 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

REPEATED warnings were ignored that could have prevented the deaths of three Merseyside airmen in a tragic spy plane crash in Afghanistan, it was claimed yesterday.

Opposition parties reacted with fury after the Ministry of Defence admitted its own “failings” were to blame for last year’s RAF Nimrod crash, which killed its 14-strong crew.

Among those killed were father-of-two Flight Lieutenant Allan Squires, 39, from Clatterbridge who also studied at university in Liverpool, Flight Lieutenant Steven Swarbrick, 28, of Formby and RAF Sergeant John Langton, 29, from Grassendale.

Yesterday, a Board of Inquiry report into the tragedy, the biggest loss of military life in a single incident for 25 years, found ageing aircraft components and a lack of modern fire suppressants were among the causes.

Last night, widow Adele Squires blamed the MoD for her husband’s death and said: "He believed in trying his best at everything.

"I do blame the MoD, but where is that going to get me? It angers me to know that the pain we are all going through could so easily have been avoided.

"There is no point being angry with them. It is not going to bring them back. We just want some justice and the MoD to sit up and take notice. What they have done could have been avoided."

Neighbours said Sergeant Langton’s parents Joe and Margaret, of Bathurst Road, had travelled to London to hear the details of the report.

Sgt Langton, nicknamed “Langy”, was a weapon systems operator who dreamt of becoming a pilot. He was a keen and talented painter and he and his brother Cpl Steve Langton made RAF history when they became the first two brothers to serve in the same squadron in 1997.

A fire, probably caused by a fuel leak following air-to-air refuelling, caused a catastrophic mid-air explosion that brought down Nimrod XV230 12 miles west of Kandahar on September 2, 2006.

In the Commons, Defence Secretary Des Browne apologised to bereaved families and announced an independent review into the “airworthiness” of the ageing Nimrod aircraft.

Mr Browne said: “It is clear that some of the findings of the Board of Inquiry identify failings for which the Ministry of Defence must take responsibility.”

The review – to be headed by a senior QC – would have the power to recommend a full public inquiry if considered necessary.

But Mr Browne insisted the Nimrod’s very good safety record was “incontrovertible”, adding: “This aircraft is airworthy and is fit to fly.”

But, in a scathing response, shadow defence secretary Gerald Howarth accused the MoD of ignoring 40 previous fire-related incidents and 52 fuel leaks in Nimrods.

It also emerged that Flt Lt Swarbrick, nicknamed “Swarbs”, had expressed his fears over safety of the ageing aircraft he was piloting to family and friends.

His girlfriend, Laura Robson, said he told her the planes had been “cannibalised” with certain parts taken from one plane to another in order for it to take off.

Mr Howarth said: “Both the RAF and the manufacturer were acutely aware of the potential hazards arising from the Nimrod’s ageing systems.

“The MoD has received repeated warnings about problems with fuel leaks in the Nimrod, but failed to tackle the problem.”

It was “nothing short of a scandal” that the replacement for the Nimrod – the MRA4 – would not enter service until at last 2011, when it was due in 2003, Mr Howarth added.

For the Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie said the Nimrod was designed almost 40 years ago and accused the MoD of going “from can do to make do”.

The Board of Inquiry concluded that fuel probably escaped into a bay on the starboard side of flight XV230, either because of a leaking coupling in the fuel system or an overflowing fuel tank.

The fuel probably caught fire when it made contact with hot air pipes which could have been as hot as 400C, its report said.

The “contributory factors” included the age of the aircraft’s couplings, seals and insulators, the maintenance of the fuel and hot air systems and the lack of a fire detection and suppression system.

Mr Browne told MPs many of the 33 recommendations made had already been implemented, insisting: “We are learning lessons from the accident”.

Air Chief Marshal Torpy praised the way the crew had tried to deal with the blaze before the aircraft exploded.

“It is clear that the entire crew behaved in an absolutely exemplary manner,” he said.

“I want to use this opportunity to publicly apologise for the tragic loss of the 14 lives of the service- men involved in this accident.”

He said that arrangements were now being put in place to ensure that compensation claims by the families were handled as “expeditiously” as possible.