Al-Jazeera has aired a 'suspicious' video
31st January 2005 17.45pm

Al-Jazeera has aired a video reported to have come from insurgents who claim they shot down the plane, showing burning wreckage on the ground.

The MoD said it had seen the video but would not comment on it. The ministry is investigating whether enemy fire or an accident was to blame. The video shows two rockets being fired, then cuts to plane wreckage on the ground. The footage did not show missiles hitting a plane, and it was not certain that the wreckage was that of a Hercules C130. The authenticity of the video is highly suspicious. The wreckage shown, especially the engines are not similar in shape to the Allison T56 Turbo Prop engine currently fitted to the C130K older Hercules or the Rolls-Royce Allison turboprops fitted to the newer C130J variant.

We did not see Fat Albert's distinctive tall dorsal tail fin shape among the wreckage. London MoD declined to comment on the video or the claim. "The real problem is that all this leads to a great deal of speculation, none of which is helpful. We need facts," Chief of Air Staff Air Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup told reporters

Having seen images of other previous Hercules crashes, including the last incident in Kukes Albania in June 1999, C130 Hercules transport plane caught fire during take-off from the airfield. One person suffered minor injuries. All 12 crew members were evacuated from the aircraft, just before ammunition on board let off loud explosions, but the aircraft tail fin survived that crash.

Likewise, on 15 July 1996 a Belgian Lockheed C-130 Hercules, crashed at Eindhoven Air Base. A total of 34 people lost their lives as a result of the accident, and seven people were seriously injured. The images shown from that crash, the tail plane survived. RAF Lyneham's previous Hercules tragedy was in Scotland on 27th May 1993. Evidence from examination of the aircraft wreckage by the air accidents investigation branch again the tail fin was still intact after the 70 squadron aircraft crashed into a Scottish mountainside while on a routine low flying exercise.

A statement from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, where the Hercules was based, said the immediate families of those thought to have been involved in the crash had been contacted. "They may need extra time to speak with their wider families, so therefore we are unable to release the names of those involved at this stage," it said.

Air Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup, the RAF's Chief of Air Staff, said those names would be released at 1200GMT on Tuesday 1st February 2005.