Royal Air Force Nimrod XV230

Infobox Airliner accident|name=Nimrod crash in Afghanistan
Date= September 2, 2006
Type=On board fire following re-fuel
Site=Chalaghor in the Panjwaye District of Kandahar, Afghanistan
Fatalities=14
Aircraft Type=Nimrod MR2
Operator=Royal Air Force
Tail Number=XV230
Crew=14
Survivors = 0

Royal Air Force Nimrod XV230 was the first Nimrod to enter operational service with the RAF. It was delivered to the Operational Conversion Unit at RAF St Mawgan on 2 October 1969. [ [http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafkinloss/aboutus/nimrodthroughtheyears.cfm RAF Kinloss - Nimrod - Through The Years ] ] According to Jane's Information Group, XV230 was one of six Nimrods equipped with an L-3 Wescam MX-15 electro-optical turret in 2003. In June/July 2006 XV230 was given the capability to transmit real-time video imagery from the MX-15 to ground stations and commanders. This was implemented under Project Broadsword. [ [http://www.janes.com/aerospace/military/news/jdw/jdw060905_1_n.shtml Crashed RAF Nimrod identified - Jane's Defence Business News ] ]

During a reconnaissance flight it crashed in Afghanistan on September 2, 2006 , killing 14 military personnel in Britain's worst single loss since the Falklands War.

Crash details

The aircraft is believed to have suffered a leak during midair refuelling while it was monitoring a NATO offensive against Taliban insurgents west of Kandahar. The fuel appears to have leaked into the bomb bay where it caught fire, either as the result of an electrical fault or hot air leaking from a heating pipe.

The pilot reported a fire in his bomb-bay. He tried to reach Kandahar air base, taking the aircraft down from 23,000 ft to 3,000 ft in 90 seconds. An RAF Harrier aircraft followed the Nimrod down and saw a wing explode, followed a few seconds later by the rest of the aircraft. [cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1937063.ece |title=Blast fears as Nimrod planes leak fuel on spy missions|author=Michael Smith|date=June 17, 2007|publisher=The Times|accessdate=2007-06-17]

The crash site was about 25 miles WNW of Kandahar Airfield (which is located 16 kilometers south-east of the city of Kandahar) between two villages called Chil Khor and Fatehullah Qala in the Panjwaye District. [cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2340566,00.html|title=Biggest military loss since start of Afghan war is 'terrible accident'|author=Michael Smith|date=September 3, 2006|publisher=The Times|accessdate=2006-09-03 ] Witnesses included local men Abdul Manan and Haji Eisamuddin. [cite news|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006410086,00.html|title=RAF base remembers airmen|date=September 4, 2006|publisher=The Sun|accessdate=2006-09-04]

Twelve RAF personnel, a Royal Marine and a British Army soldier aboard the Nimrod MR2, XV230 were killed.

The 12 RAF crew were all from No. 120 Squadron RAF, based at RAF Kinloss in Scotland:
*Flight Lieutenant Allan James Squires
*Flight Lieutenant Steven Johnson
*Flight Lieutenant Leigh Anthony Mitchelmore
*Flight Lieutenant Gareth Rodney Nicholas
*Flight Lieutenant Steven Swarbrick
*Flight Sergeant Gary Wayne Andrews
*Flight Sergeant Stephen Beattie
*Flight Sergeant Gerard Martin Bell
*Flight Sergeant Adrian Davies
*Sergeant Benjamin James Knight [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfUxKMaN4C4 YouTube Tribute] [http://www.benknight.co.uk Memorial Website]
*Sergeant John Joseph Langton
*Sergeant Gary Paul Quilliam.

The soldier and marine on board were serving with the Special Reconnaissance Regiment cite news
author = Chris Hughes
title = Crashed Nimrod had just refuelled
url =
work = Dailymirror.co.uk
publisher = Mirror Media Group
date = 2006-05-09
accessdate = ]

*Lance Corporal Oliver Simon Dicketts, Parachute Regiment
*Royal Marine, Joseph David Windall.

A board of inquiry was released in December 2007. [ [http://media.netpr.pl/notatka_89577.html PR Newswire : Release of Nimrod XY230 board of inquiry (BOI) ] ]

On May 23, 2008 the assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, Andrew Walker, handed down a narrative ruling that it had "never been airworthy from the first time it was released to the service nearly 40 years ago".

"It seems to me that this is a case where I would be failing in my duty if I didn't report action to the relevant authority that would prevent future fatalities,"

"I have given the matter considerable thought and I see no alternative but to report to the secretary of state that the Nimrod fleet should not fly until the Alarp [as low as reasonably practicable] standards are met." [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/23/nimrod.verdict The Guardian : Nimrod inquest coroner declares whole fleet 'never airworthy'] ]

Controversy

There have been concerns in the British media about serviceability of the Nimrod fleet [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1687498.ece MoD accused of cost-cutting on crash plane - Times Online ] ] and bereaved families are having to wait for years for the Oxfordshire coroner's office to hold inquests into military deaths. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/23/ninquest123.xml Attacks on 'appalling' wait for inquests - Telegraph ] ] Conservative MP, Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger called for its replacement - the MRA4 - to be introduced quicker. [cite web | author =Dan Sales| url =http://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/bmnewsbridgwater/display.var.1582433.0.air_hero_dad_and_mp_call_for_nimrod_replacements.php| title =Air hero's dad and MP call for Nimrod replacements| date =July 31, 2007 | accessdate =August 26 | accessyear =2007] The replacement aircraft has suffered significant problems during the development and construction which has resulted in lengthy programme delays and the in-service date slipping 6 years from 2003 to 2009. [ [http://www.spyflight.co.uk/MR4A.htm BAe Nimrod MRA4 ] ] [cite web | author =Hansard (House of Commons Daily Debates) | url =http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070723/text/70723w0009.htm#07072411000969| title =Nimrod Aircraft| date =July 23, 2007 | accessdate =September 1| accessyear =2007]

Concerns were again raised when on Monday 5 November 2007, Nimrod XV235 was reported to have suffered a similar fuel leak. The aircraft landed safely. The MoD have since suspended all in-flight refuelling of the Nimrod fleet.

The Scottish National Party's Westminster leader, Angus Robertson has criticised delays in inquiries. He said the wait for the Ministry of Defence inquiry and a coroner's inquest was a "disgrace" that dates have still to be set for the publication of the board of inquiry's findings and a coroner's inquest into the deaths. He was also quoted as saying "Everybody's thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives. They are having to wait far too long to receive answers to many questions. A 12-month wait is a disgrace - Publication dates have been put back and put back and the Ministry of Defence should get on with it." [cite web | author =John Ross| url =http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1391572007
title =Nimrod inquiry delays under fire| date =1 September 2007| accessdate =September 2007| accessyear =2007]

Board of Enquiry findings

On 4 December 2007 the report of the findings of the official Board of Enquiry into the loss of XV230 was published. The Board believed that the No 7 tank dry bay was the most likely location for the seat of the fire, with the most probable cause being escaped fuel contacting a Supplementary Conditioning Pack (SCP) airpipe at 400 degrees Celsius "...after entering a gap between two types of insulation". Four separate factors were listed as contributing to the accident: [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/04_12_07nimrod.pdf |publisher=BBC NEWS | title=20071204 Final enclosures press pack |format=pdf |work= |date=2007-12-04 |accessdate=2008-05-23] Age of the aircraft; Maintenance policy; Failure of hazard analysis and lack of a fire detection and suppression system; Not identifying the full implications of successive changes to the fuel system and associated procedures.

Links into the full report on the XV230 accident can be found here [cite web|url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/BoardsOfInquiry/BoiNimrodMr2Xv230.htm|title=XV230 Board of Enquiry Findings|publisher=Royal Air Force|accessdate=2007-12-04]

On 23 May 2008, the coroner who led the inquest into these deaths stated that the entire Nimrod fleet had "never been airworthy from the first time it was released to service" and urged that it should be grounded. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/23/nimrod.verdict "Nimrod inquest coroner declares whole fleet 'never airworthy' ", The Guardian, 05-23-2008] .Retrieved on 05-24-2008.] Assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire Andrew Walker added: "This cavalier approach to safety must come to an end. There were failures... [in monitoring the planes' safety] ...that should, if the information had been correctly recorded and acted upon, have led to the discovery of this design flaw within the Nimrod fleet." [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7416627.stm |publisher=BBC NEWS | title= Nimrod fleet 'should be grounded' |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-05-23 |date=2008-05-23]

References

External links

* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=XV230 Pre-a ccident pictures of the aircraft]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/5312112.stm?ls BBC news Scotland East]
* [http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/FourteenPersonnelInAfghanistanNimrodCrashNamed.htm Fourteen personnel in Afghanistan Nimrod crash named]
* Nimrod XV230 from [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20060902-0 Aviation Safety Network ]
* [http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/NimrodCrewRepatriatedToRafKinloss.htm Nimrod Crew Repatriated to RAF Kinloss]
* [http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,30100-kinloss_p20748,00.html Sky News report]
* [http://www.palacebarracksmemorialgarden.org/Royal%20Air%20Force%20(Afgan).htm Memorial Garden to our Armed Forces]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/6716645.stm "On a Wing and a Prayer" ] A BBC Panorama (TV series) investigation shown Monday 4th June 2007.
* [http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/qa+nimrod+mr2+explosion/1139257 Q&A: Nimrod MR2 explosion] Channel 4 news - Dec 04 2007.