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Hercules XV179 |
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1. Without foam: Explosive mix of
fuel vapour and air above liquid fuel ignites easily.
Once this ignites, a compression wave pressurises the
remaining gas, increasing the explosion.
2. With foam: Foam expands to fill space in tank as
fuel level drops. Vapour ignition is confined to the
area close to spark, stopping explosion. |
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Hercules safety 'still lacking'
BBC Website
28th February 2007
www.bbc.co.uk
Key safety measures have still not been introduced on some
military aircraft, two years after a Hercules crash killed
10 UK servicemen, only seven of the Royal Air Force's 48
Hercules aircraft have been fitted with special foam to prevent
explosions, the BBC has learned. One former Squadron Commander described the situation as "criminally
insane".
The 2005 Hercules crash, after ground fire caused a fuel
tank explosion, was the single largest loss of British life
in Iraq since military action began. A board of inquiry has
said the lack of a fuel tank safety system could have contributed
to the crash.
The MoD has said the deaths would not definitely have been
prevented had explosive suppressant technology been fitted,
but announced in April 2006 it had decided to fit it to some
Hercules aircraft.
Relatives of the lost crew have been calling
for explosive suppressant foam (ESF) - used in US aircraft since the Vietnam
war - to be fitted to the entire Hercules fleet.
Last October they handed a
petition bearing 2,858 names
demanding the device for the fleet, based at Lyneham, Wiltshire.
In November the government said only two Hercules planes
had been fitted with ESF. But in a later answer to a parliamentary
question armed forces minister Adam Ingram said fuel leaks
were reported
on two Hercules C-130 aircraft after being fitted with the
foam protection to their fuel tanks. Both were returned to
the contractor for repair and subsequently returned to the
front line, he said.
Mr Ingram told the House of Commons in December that "the
majority" of the RAF's C-130 Hercules fleet would have
ESF by the end of 2007. But he said he could not reveal the
precise number, for security reasons.
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