NIMROD TIMELINE

1969: The Nimrod MR1, based on the design of Britain’s first airliner, the de Havilland Comet, first enters service. According to the RAF, the Nimrod is the only jet powered maritime patrol aircraft in military service and is used in four main roles: Anti Submarine Warfare, Anti-Surface-Unit Warfare, Intelligence and Communications Support, and Search and Rescue

Late 1970s: Nimrod upgraded to the MR2 version. The existing fleet of 15 aircraft was originally due to leave service a decade ago, but lengthy delays to their replacement, the Nimrod MRA4, meant they will have to carry on to around 2011

1982: Nimrods introduce air to air refuelling during the Falklands War

June 3, 1984: Fire on board a Nimrod at St Mawgan, Cornwall

May 16, 1995: A Nimrod’s engine catches fire at Lossiemouth, Scotland

1990: Nimrods used in the Gulf war

September 2, 1995: A Nimrod crashes into Lake Ontario during a demonstration at Toronto Air Show, Canada

2001: Nimrods used to help enforce Nato’s maritime blockade of the Balkans

2003: Nimrods again used in the second Gulf war

August 2004: BAE Systems, the aircraft manufacturers, were reported to have warned that if a fire broke out in the bomb bay there was no way of extinguishing it. It was advised that fire extinguishers were fitted in the bomb bays, but the warning was reportedly ignored by the MoD

November 2004: A hot air pipe in the bomb bay of a Nimrod fractured as the craft came in to land at RAF Kinloss, Morayshire, and poured hot air into the fuel tank. Disaster was averted only because the aircraft was on its way back to base. The station commander at Kinloss warned of more “unexpected failures” due to the aircraft’s age.

December 2005: A leaked e-mail, said to be from senior RAF officer, says the XV230 had “fuel leak issues”

February 2006: Another leaked e-mail warned that the age of the airframe combined with the high tempo of operations was adding to the “leak headache”

March 2006: A maintenance report by defence technology company Qinetiq was said to have highlighted the problems of fuel leaks on the MR2s, and warned the situation was “critical”

September 2, 2006: A Nimrod MR2 reconnaissance aircraft with the call sign XV230 explodes over Afghanistan, 12 miles west of Kandahar, killing all 14 on board including 12 crew from 120 Squadron based at FAR Kinloss in Moray, a Royal Marine, and an Army soldier. The servicemen were on an intelligence-gathering mission. The incident remains the single biggest loss of life suffered by British forces since the Falklands War.

Sources: Times Online, agencies and www.raf.mod.uk

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