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| U.K. Says Fuel Caused Afghanistan Plane Explosion (Update2) |
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| Written by NotOverYet | |
| Wednesday, 05 December 2007 | |
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A fuel leak probably caused the fire that blew up an almost 40-year-old U.K. surveillance airplane in Afghanistan, killing all 14 service members on board, an official inquiry found. ``The fire was likely the result of some escaped fuel that ignited,'' Defence Secretary Des Browne said in a statement to Parliament today, following publication of a report by a military panel. ``We are unable to identify with absolute certainty the cause.'' The airplane, flying in support of ground forces fighting the Taliban, conducted air-to-air refueling shortly before fires were reported. The age of some parts may have contributed to the incident and the Ministry of Defence has taken action to prevent a similar accident, he said. The Nimrod fleet will keep flying. The Nimrod MR2 aircraft crashed following an explosion on Sept. 2 last year, killing everyone on board. The incident was the biggest loss of life in a single event for the U.K. military since the 1982 Falklands War with Argentina. The conclusion may increase pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour government to address what several former military chiefs have said is an inadequate defense budget in light of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The aircraft, the first Nimrod to enter operational service with the Royal Air Force in 1969, was almost 40 years old. Failure Identified ``Some findings identify failure for which the Ministry of Defence must accept responsibility,'' Browne said. ``I would like to say I'm sorry.'' The opposition Conservative party's Shadow Defence Minister Gerald Howarth responded to the statement by asking why a 2004 recommendation by BAE Systems, who maintain the fleet, to install a precautionary measure to warn of hot air in the aircraft was rejected. With an average ``40 fire-related incidents a year for the past 20 years, and 52 leaks in a six-month period last year,'' the manufacturer and the RAF were ``acutely aware of the potential hazards arising from the Nimrod's ageing systems,'' Howarth said. All Nimrods were upgraded in the late 1970s. The aircraft are designed to attack submarines and ground units, and to carry out reconnaissance. The fleet is due to be replaced by the upgraded Nimrod MRA4 around 2011, according to the Royal Air Force. The MRA4 should have replaced the current Nimrods four years ago, Howarth said. Insufficient Funding Former Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Michael Boyce said on Nov. 23 the government wasn't providing sufficient funding for the military. ``People are putting their lives at risk because they cannot train on the equipment that they will meet when they get to the theater,'' Boyce told the House of Lords. ``That is the problem that the government is not addressing.'' Graham Knight, the father of Sergeant Benjamin Knight, one of the servicemen killed in the incident, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he used a freedom of information request to obtain records suggesting fuel leaks that may have caused the aircraft to burst into flames were a common problem among the fleet of Nimrods. ``Our Air Force are operating at a tempo well in excess of that for which they are resourced,'' Howarth said. The government will spend 33.4 billion pounds ($68.7 billion) on defense this year, up from 32.7 billion last year, a growth of 1.4 percent after inflation, according to the Ministry of Defence. BAE Systems will ``work together with the U.K. Ministry of Defence to provide them with the support they may require in implementing the report's recommendations,'' the company said in an e-mailed statement. By Robin Stringer |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 08 December 2007 ) |
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