FighterControl

Senior military officers are expected to be criticised in an official report into an RAF aircraft crash that killed 14 British servicemen in Afghanistan.

The Nimrod spy plane exploded in mid-air near Kandahar in 2006, causing the biggest single loss of life for UK forces since the Falklands War.

Leading aviation lawyer Charles Haddon-Cave QC is due to publish the findings of his 22-month review into what went wrong.

He has been asked by the Government to rule where responsibility lies for any failings and given powers to recommend a public inquiry if he thinks it necessary.

Mr Haddon-Cave has told relatives of the men killed in the crash that he is likely to name and criticise organisations and individuals in his report.

Serious concerns have already been raised about the airworthiness of the 37-year-old Nimrod MR2, call sign XV230, that blew up minutes after undergoing air-to-air refuelling on September 2 2006.

A military board of inquiry found the crash was caused when leaking fuel came into contact with a hot-air pipe, and recommended the replacement of fuel seals and engine bay ducts.

A coroner ruled in May last year that the RAF's Nimrods had never been airworthy since entering service in 1969 and called for the entire fleet to be grounded.

Graham Knight, whose son Sergeant Ben Knight, 25, from 120 Squadron RAF, was among the victims, said he was optimistic that Mr Haddon-Cave would single out those to blame for the tragedy.

"What we need in order for us to have peace of mind is to know who are the people responsible. We want some sort of action taken against them," he said. "My wife says, if people are named, she would like to sit opposite them and say, 'I'm the mother of one of those that died'."

Wow, talk about a kicking to BAE, IPT and MOD.

Certainly an in depth report, listening to it live on Sky.

The Ministry of Defence has been accused of sacrificing safety in order to cut costs in a devastating report into the crash of a RAF Nimrod spy plane with the loss of all 14 servicemen on board.

Charles Haddon-Cave QC found the loss of Nimrod MR2 over Afghanistan in September 2006 had occurred because of a "systemic breach" of the military covenant.

He said financial cuts within the MoD in the wake of the 1998 strategic defence review had resulted in a "cascade" of organisation changes which had led to "a dilution of the airworthiness regime and culture with the MoD".

And he described a safety review of the ageing Nimrod MR2 carried out by the MoD in conjunction with BAE Systems and QinetiQ as a "lamentable job" which failed to identify "key dangers".

"Its production is a story of incompetence, complacency and cynicism. The best opportunity to prevent the accident to XV230 was tragically lost," he said.

Mr Haddon-Cave concluded: "In my view, XV230 was lost because of a systemic breach of the military covenant brought about by significant failures on the part of all those involved.

"This must not be allowed to happen again."

Hear hear Mr Figgis - damned well said mate.

What a state of affairs, it has been well and truly talked about that these agencies were not up to doing the job, the MOD have been described for a while as not fit for purpose .The sad thing is NO politician will ever stand up and demand action should be taken and criminal charges brought, and if this did happen it would be buried under the cop out law of not in the country's interest. This must leave an even bigger hole in the hearts and given unimaginable pain to the families and friends of those who died. GOD BLESS THEM,R I P, some day justice will be done