RAF Death Inquest Resumes

An inquest into the deaths of 14 servicemen who died when the plane they were travelling in exploded, has resumed.

The 37-year-old Nimrod spy plane burst into flames at 3,000 ft in September, 2006 killing all on board.

The incident happened after the reconnaissance aircraft refuelled near Kandahar, the second largest city in Afghanistan.

The inquest into the deaths began with a visit including court officials and families of the victims to RAF Brize Norton.

A RAF Board of Inquiry (BoI) said that "ageing components" and "a lack of modern fire suppressants" were among the "contributing factors" to the tragedy.

The BoI found that the most likely cause of the explosion was a leakage of fuel during air-to-air refuelling.

The crew had no means of extinguishing the fire and attempted an emergency descent to the Kandahar airbase but the aircraft was seen to explode by an RAF Harrier pilot.

The 12 RAF personnel killed were Flt Lt Steven Johnson, Flt Lt Leigh Anthony Mitchelmore, Flt Lt Gareth Rodney Nicholas, Flt Lt Allan James Squires, Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, Flt Sgt Gary Wayne Andrews, Flt Sgt Stephen Beattie, Flt Sgt Gerard Martin Bell and Flt Sgt Adrian Davies, Sgt Benjamin James Knight, Sgt John Joseph Langton and Sgt Gary Paul Quilliam.

L/Cpl Oliver Simon Dicketts, from the Parachute Regiment, and Royal Marine Joseph David Windall also died.

It is believed that the deaths represented the greatest loss by UK forces since the Falklands War.

The hearing will be presided over by Andrew Walker, the Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner.

The families of the victims will see a Nimrod plane similar to the stricken plane that exploded as part of the inquest.

The inquest is expected to last three weeks.

(DS)