Independent review finds "systemic" failings by MoD and BAE

An independent review into the crash of a Nimrod spy plan in 2006, which killed 14 service personnel, has accused the Ministry of Defence of sacrificing safety to cut costs.

In a highly critical account the government-commissioned report by Charles Haddon-Cave QC blames the crash on what it calls "systemic" failings by the MoD and BAE, Britain's biggest arms company.

A safety review of the Nimrod MR2 carried out by the MoD, BAE Systems and QinetiQ was branded a "lamentable job" which failed to identify "key dangers".

Fourteen crewmen, based at RAF Kinloss in Moray, died when the aircraft exploded after air-to-air refuelling above Afghanistan, when leaking fuel made contact with a hot air pipe. It was the biggest single loss of life of British service personnel since the Falklands war.

Haddon-Cave said that between 1998 and 2006 financial targets distracted from safety, in a change of organisational culture within the MoD.

He quoted a former senior RAF officer who told the inquiry: "There was no doubt that the culture of the time had switched. In the days of the RAF chief engineer in the 1990s, you had to be on top of airworthiness. By 2004 you had to be on top of your budget if you wanted to get ahead."

A safety review of the ageing Nimrod MR2 a year before the crash, carried out by the MoD, BAE and QinetiQ, was a "lamentable job" which failed to identify "key dangers", he said.

The report is critical of the MoD as well as its industrial partners. As well as the organisational level, it criticises 10 individuals - five at the MoD, three at BAE and two at QinetiQ.

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

Defence secretary Bob Ainsworth apologised, and said that safety measures had already been implemented. "On behalf of the MoD and the Royal Air Force, I would like again to say sorry to all the families who lost loved ones," he said.

"I am sorry for the mistakes that have been made and the lives that have been lost as a result of our failure. Nothing I can say or do will bring these men back."

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said the report was "genuinely shocking". Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey added: "This is a tragic case of an accident that could have been avoided."

All Nimrods whose engine-bay hot air ducts have not been replaced have been grounded.

The MoD has since admitted negligence in relation to the explosion.

Post your comment

Please note: you will need to login or register before you can comment on the website