The father of one of the victims of the Nimrod crash called for the head of the RAF to resign.

Graham Knight, the father of Sergeant Ben Knight, said yesterday that the inquiry report proved that the RAF had “betrayed” his son and he directed his anger towards Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, the Chief of the Air Staff.

Mr Knight, 55, of Bridgwater, in Somerset, said: “I am stunned by the report. This proves there was a catalogue of failures from shoddy maintenance to the use of air-to-air refuelling.

“Now everyone knows that someone will have to fall on their sword, and I think that it will have to be Sir Glenn.

“It is disgraceful that it has taken 14 deaths to provoke this inquiry but the board has made 33 recommendations. I hope they make damn sure they comply.”

Mr Knight said that his 25-year-old son, who was a weapons systems operator on board the Nimrod, and the 13 other victims of the crash, were killed, “not by insurgents, but by incompetence”.

Helen Nicholas, whose husband, Flight Lieutenant Gareth Nicholas, 40, a weapons systems officer, also died in the crash, said: “We were shocked that they were ordered to fly in a plane which had had many fuel leaks.”

Mrs Nicholas, of Redruth, Cornwall, added: “When you enter into hostilities you don’t expect to be sabotaged by your own side.”

Adele Squires, the widow of Flight Lieutenant Allan Squires, the 39-year-old pilot, said: “I do blame the Ministry of Defence, but where is that going to get me?”

Mrs Squires, of Clatterbridge, Merseyside, said that she could imagine her husband fighting with the controls while the Nimrod was on fire. “He believed in always trying his best at everything,” she said. “All of the men were brave, fantastic men just doing a job which went dreadfully wrong.”

Clair Mitchelmore, the widow of Flight Lieutenant Leigh Mitchelmore, 28, a weapon system operator from Bournemouth, said that her husband had died as a result of a “catalogue of errors and an ageing aircraft” which meant that the servicemen had been unable to do their job safely.

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