OTD 2006 Nimrod XV230 crashed in Afghanistan killing all 14 men on board. It wasn’t brought down by enemy action, but a failure of ‘leadership, culture and priorities’ at BAE Systems, the MoD & QinetiQ.

The aircraft suffered a catastrophic fire shortly after conducting AAR. The crew acted with 'bravery, calmness and professionalism' but their fate was sealed. The aircraft exploded less than 7 minutes after the fire was first detected.

The fire was caused by the escape of fuel into a dry bay which was ignited by the cross-feed/supplementary conditioning pact duct containing air at up to 470 degrees celsius. The bay was inaccessible and had no fire protection.

This was a design flaw from 1969, exacerbated by modifications in 1979-84 and again by a modification to meet an urgent operational requirement for AAR in 1982. This fundamental design flaw was the primary cause but would take decades to kill the crew of XV230.

The flaw should have been picked up by the Nimrod Safety Case, produced by BAE Systems. However, this was ‘a lamentable job from start to finish. It was riddled with errors..its production is a story of incompetence, complacency and cynicism.’

It took 4 years to produce and BAE billed the taxpayer £400K. Despite its multiple failings it was signed off by the Project Team & QinetiQ. ‘There was a widespread flawed assumption that the Nimrod was ‘safe anyway’ and this fatally undermined the Safety Case process.’

In addition, ’unending cuts and change' in the MoD 'led to a dilution of safety’ and were ‘a significant causal factor in the loss of XV230.’

The failings which led to the loss of XV230 were so serious that in addition to the BOI an independent review was established under Charles Haddon-Cave QC (from which the quotes in this thread are taken).

Haddon-Cave’s recommendations led to the establishment of the Military Airworthiness Authority, Duty Holders, better training and the restoration of the RAF Chief Engineer. Some of his recommendations have been ignored though.

We need to remember that design flaws can take years to bite; rushed modifications introduce risk; ageing aircraft require special care; companies sometimes act unethically. Leadership & culture are paramount.

This must never happen again. As Haddon-Cave said 'the most fitting memorial to the loss of the crew of XV230 will be that the lessons from their sacrifice are truly learned

Rest in Peace:

Flt Lt Johnson
Flt Lt Mitchelmore
Ft Lt Nicholas
Flt Lt Squires
Flt Lt Swarbrick
Flt Sgt Andrews
Flt Sgt Beattie
Flt Sgt Bell
Flt Sgt Davies
Sgt Knight
Sgt Langton
Sgt Quilliam
Cpl Dicketts
Marine Windall