Nimrod inquest: Engineer has he wasn't told about fuel leaks

May 9 2008

A Nimrod landing at RAF Kinloss similar to the one that crashed in Afghanistan (320)

A ROYAL Air Force engineer has said that he “should have been told” about signs of fuel leaks in an aircraft which exploded in mid- air, killing 14 servicemen, including three from Merseyside.

The 37-year-old Nimrod XV 230 spy plane crashed after it was engulfed in a ball of flames shortly after undergoing air-to-air refuelling while on a secret mission in Afghanistan.

Sgt John Joseph Langton, 29, of Grassendale, Flt Lt Allan James Squires, 39, of Clatterbridge, Wirral, and Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, 28, of Formby, were killed.

Oxford Coroner’s Court, where an inquest into the men’s deaths is being held, heard that a series of fuel leaks had been reported throughout the Nimrod fleet and a number of crews had noted fuel leaking into the fuselage after air- to-air refuelling (AAR) before the crash near Kandahar on September 2, 2006.

Some of the aircraft were “blowing off” fuel and air through a special safety valve as the tanks were filled and the highly inflammable fuel had been found puddled in the bomb bay and dripping off the undercarriage.

The RAF continued to refuel aircraft in the air after the tragedy but two more incidents involving fuel leaks led to the practice being suspended, the court heard.

Sergeant Mark Wallington, the ground engineer who oversaw repair and maintenance work on the Nimrods in Afghanistan, said he had not been told about these incidents.

He said he knew the Nimrods would leak fuel from the wing tanks but not from the tanks in the fuselage, where the leak would be more serious.

He added that he did not know the XV 230 had “blown off” fuel on two recorded occasions before the crash but said he should have been told.

An RAF Board of Inquiry (BoI) into the loss of the plane found that ageing components and a lack of modern fire suppressants were among the “contributory factors” which led to the accident.

The BoI found the most probable cause of the crash was an escape of fuel during AAR, either from an overflow or a leak from the plane’s fuel system.

The fuel flowed back into a dry bay near the aircraft’s No 7 fuel tank, and ignited after coming into contact with an exposed hot air pipe.

The crew had no means of attacking the principal fire and had no choice but to attempt an emergency descent to the Kandahar airbase, but at 3,000ft the aircraft was seen by a RAF Harrier pilot engulfed in a ball of flame just six minutes after the blaze broke out.