The Ministry of Defence covered up the full truth about the destruction of an RAF Hercules aircraft by Iraqi insurgents to stop the enemy claiming a high-profile propaganda victory, a new report discloses.

The C-130J transport aircraft was struck by two bombs planted by militants as it landed on a temporary runway in Maysan Province in south-eastern Iraq on February 12 last year.

All 64 people on board escaped to safety but the Hercules was so badly damaged it had to be destroyed by coalition explosives experts.

At the time the MoD said the aircraft had been involved in an "incident on landing", telling some journalists there were no immediate signs of enemy action.

But a formal Board of Inquiry report, published on the MoD's website, makes it clear that planted improvised explosive devices were suspected within an hour of the blasts.

The report praises senior defence officials' "sound and well-reasoned approach" to releasing information about the incident.

It notes that this resulted in "minimal media interest" and "denied the enemy the opportunity to exploit the situation for the benefit of their IO (information operations) campaign".

This was the second time insurgents had destroyed a British Hercules in Iraq and could have been a major propaganda coup for opponents of coalition operations.

All 10 servicemen on board died when a Hercules was shot down near Baghdad in January 2005.

The aircraft crashed after being hit by ground fire which caused an explosion in the right wing fuel tank.

Speaking about the more recent incident, an MoD spokesman said today: "The Board concluded that the cause of the loss was as a direct result of enemy action.

"This was the explosion of two improvised explosive device arrays close to the aircraft's touchdown point at the tactical landing zone (temporary runway) at Maysan Province in Iraq.

"The Board of Inquiry commended the crew on its rapid handling of the immediate aftermath of the explosion, ensuring that all on board the aircraft quickly appreciated the gravity of the situation which led to the rapid and safe evacuation of all the crew and passengers from the aircraft.

"We are working on the implementation of the recommendations from the Board of Inquiry and a number have been implemented already."

The MoD spokesman added: "It is our duty to protect the security of troops on operations.

"At times this means we may need to restrict the flow of information for a period of time to protect that security. We would not deliberately mislead the public."

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