Crashed RAF Nimrod plane ‘not safe to fly’

May 14 2008 by Nathan Rees, Daily Post correspondent

THE explosion which downed a spy plane in Afghanistan killing three Merseyside servicemen and 10 of their comrades was due to a "fundamental design fault" in the aircraft, an inquest heard yesterday.

The hearing had previously been told the tragedy was caused by fuel leaking into a dry bay and igniting on contact with a hot air pipe.

But a senior RAF officer admitted yesterday that a mistake had been made during a hazard assessment of the Nimrod which could have resulted in this risk being identified.

Air Commodore George Baber told the inquest at Oxford Coroners Court that had they known then what they knew now, the Nimrod would not have been passed as safe to fly.

Air Commodore Baber told the inquest that he led a Integrated Project Team, who together with BAE systems, carried out a comprehensive hazard analysis of the Nimrod plane.

He said at a meeting in August, 2004, a number of hazards were identified and put into categories. He said the possibility of the explosion in the dry bay being caused was graded as "improbable" – one of the lower categories.

But he admitted it should have graded higher, which would have then warranted further action. He said the design flaw was to have fuel in the same compartment as a hot air pipe.

He told the inquest: "At the heart of this was a fundamental design flaw. This hazard assessment process was an opportunity to catch any inherent design flaw. We failed to catch that design flaw. The consequences were catastrophic and that is why we are here today."

Sgt John Joseph Langton, 29, of Liverpool, Flt Lt Allan James Squires, 39, of Clatterbridge, Wirral, and Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, 28, of Formby, were among the 14 servicemen who died when the 37-year-old Nimrod exploded just minutes after undergoing air-to-air refuelling near Kandahar on September 2, 2006.

Air Commodore Baber said, as the head of the IPT, he was responsible for deciding whether the aircraft was airworthy and the buck stopped with him. He said the mistake in categorising the potential hazard was a "failure". When asked by Michael Rawlinson, the lawyer representing the families, whether the Nimrod was safe to fly he answered: "I find it difficult to answer because the simple answer is ‘No’ because we had an accident.

"Any aircraft we fly carry hazards all the time. Clearly if we knew then what we know now we would not have flown the aircraft."

Air Commodore Baber said, as the head of the IPT, he was responsible for deciding whether the aircraft was airworthy and the buck stopped with him.

The inquest had earlier heard relatives of the 14 men killed were shown a replacement aircraft after the one they were due to see suffered a technical fault.

The families were taken to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to inspect a Nimrod.

When the hearing started last Tuesday, the families were taken to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to inspect a Nimrod which was flown down from RAF Kinloss in Scotland.

The court heard it was replaced after the original aircraft they were due to see suffered a "nose-wheel hydraulic jack failure".