He said the board of inquiry report would make
painful reading but should provide some comfort for those
wanting answers to questions raised by the crash.
The report found the crew reported the aircraft was on fire
six minutes into a routine operational passenger and freight
flight from Baghdad to Balad. Twenty-five minutes later, the
Hercules was confirmed missing and 20 minutes after that the
crash site was found by US helicopter crews. A cordon was
set up around the crash site but much of the wreckage could
not be safely retrieved in the time available due to the threat
of further attack.
Despite the loss of physical evidence, the lack of credible
witnesses close to the crash site and the absence of an accident
data recorder, the board had carried out a thorough and comprehensive
investigation, the report said.
An interim inquiry report in March had already ruled out
a number of possible causes, including sabotage. The 10-month
inquiry into the cause of a crash has blamed hostile ground-to-air
fire. For operational reasons and the safety of UK forces,
details of the type of weapon used against the Hercules were
removed from the report to prevent insurgents from repeating
the attack.
RAF Lyneham station Commander Group captain Paul Oborn, gave
his reaction to the findings of the inquiry. At a press conference
at the Wiltshire base this afternoon, he said: "It is
a great relief for all of us and to the families of the crew
and passengers, to bring closure to what has been a very difficult
and painful year. We hope families and colleagues will now
be able to put this chapter of personal grief behind them.
"They were great characters, all of them, and we lived,
laughed and fought together as ateam. Our thoughts go out
to friends and families at this difficult time. I'd like to
thank the local community and those afar who have supported
us."
"The crash was caused by hostile fire - there is no
blame attached to the crew and in some ways that is a quite
a relief." |
