Nimrod flight safety investigation report; and for more detail, see Mick Smith's defence blog

THE station commander of a Nimrod spyplane that exploded over Afghanistan warned a year earlier that an “unexpected failure” was likely with a similar ageing plane already 10 years past its out-of-service date.

The comments were made in August 2005 at the end of an internal report into a leak of superheated air in the bomb bay of a Nimrod.

In the report, an unnamed group captain says the leak was “a particular concern as the ageing Nimrod MR2 is extended beyond its original out-of-service date” of 1995.

The leak of the hot air was not the first time there had been an unforeseen failure of a piece of equipment on board a Nimrod “in recent months” as a direct result of the aircraft’s age, he added.

“This incident highlights that it is particularly important that all who are involved in operating ageing aircraft be aware of the potential for failure in areas not previously subject to inspection regimes,” he said. “The unexpected failure should be ever at the forefront of our minds.”

Just over a year later, on September 2, 2006, another Nimrod exploded over Kandahar in southern Afghanistan killing all 14 servicemen on board. It was 37 years old and should have been among the first to be retired.

The government admitted last week there had been 52 leakages of fuel on board Nimrods in the six months leading up to the Afghanistan explosion.

A leak of fuel caused by pressure during air-to-air refuelling is believed to be the cause of the fire that set off the explosion.

Internal documents show that at least three of the previous leaks involved hundreds of gallons pouring along the inside fuselage and out of the rear of the aircraft.

The inquiry into the leak of hot air, which took place in November 2004, is believed to have been a central part of the investigation into what ignited leaking fuel on board XV230, the tail number of the aircraft that exploded over Afghanistan.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, chief of the air staff, said earlier this month that he was “very concerned” about the fuel leaks on the aircraft but it was “as safe as it needs to be”.

The Ministry of Defence said: “The Nimrod has an excellent safety record and is airworthy and fit to fly.”

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