'Failures' caused Hercules deaths
BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk
22nd October 2008
The deaths of 10 servicemen in a Hercules air crash in Iraq were the result of "serious systemic failures", a coroner has said. Wiltshire coroner David Masters said the failure to fit Hercules planes with explosion suppressant foam was a factor in the tragedy.

Nine RAF personnel and one soldier died when the RAF Hercules aircraft was shot down by enemy fire in 2005. A spokeswoman for the families said the men had been "let down" by the MoD.

Sarah Chapman, sister of one of the victims, Sgt Bob O'Connor, said defence chiefs had failed in their duty of care. She said the coroner had recognised the "importance of the issues" and she would be "watching" to make sure the MoD implemented his recommendations.

The coroner read out a narrative verdict, which is a statement about how death occurred, used when a coroner believes the conclusions require detailed explanation.

He recorded verdicts of "unlawful killing by terrorist insurgents".

Mr Masters said: "The failure to fit ESF [explosion suppressant foam] was on the facts found a serious systemic failure and a contributory factor in the loss of the aircraft. There was a loss of opportunity for the survival of the crew by that failure."

Among Mr Masters' recommendations was for all RAF combat aircraft to be fitted with fuel tank inerting systems - which do the same job as ESF.

He said, in particular, the Hercules' successor, the Airbus A400M, must all be fitted.

US military
Mr Masters also said the crew had been "failed" by a system which meant intelligence of insurgent activity did not reach them. Two US helicopters had been shot at in the same area by Iraqi insurgents just hours before.

The inquest heard that an e-mailed incident report was left unopened by an unnamed British intelligence officer. He said he did not open it because he had no idea the aircraft, which was on a special forces mission, was even in that area at the time. This should "never be allowed to happen again", the coroner said, recommending a review of coalition intelligence procedures.

Summing up at Trowbridge town hall, Mr Masters said the two-month hearing had been "plagued" by lax RAF record-keeping and criticised its policy of shredding documents. He also levelled criticism at the US military for not authorising interviews with American eyewitnesses. Aside from an Iraqi, US servicemen were the only eyewitnesses to the incident on 30 January 2005, but they were not available for interview. "The stance taken by the US is difficult to comprehend," said the coroner.

"I just wonder, what if the boot had been on the other foot - if a US aircraft had come down with the loss of 10 lives and the only eye witnesses had been British forces?"

Vulnerability reports
The Hercules C-130K, flight XV179, from RAF Lyneham's 47 Squadron, was shot down by enemy fire from a medium-calibre anti-aircraft weapon. It hit a fuel tank in the right wing, causing the ullage - the highly flammable fuel-vapour-and-air mix created as fuel is used - to explode and blow off half the wing. It crashed into the desert, 25 miles (40km) north-west of Baghdad.

Witnesses told the inquest the crew were flying low (about 150ft; 46m) to avoid the threat of surface-to-air missiles. Recalling evidence that had been heard, the coroner said three reports in the 1990s all said wing-located fuel tanks carried ullage explosion risks.

In 2002, a research report, sent to senior RAF figures, said that Hercules' wing tanks were the most vulnerable part of the planes, liable to explode if hit by small arms fire.

The report said "a potential solution to reduce risk is to retro-fit all C-130 aircraft with dynamic foam for the wing fuel tanks". The coroner said: "Effectively, in my judgment, this means: 'Get on and do it'.

"All the other recommendations in that report were approved, but this was not, and I consider that to be significant."

A second report, in 2003, said the recommendation still applied. Yet it was not acted upon until after the tragedy in 2005.

American Hercules have had ESF since the 1960s.

The 2005 crash was the largest loss of life to the RAF in a hostile act since World War II.

James Gray gravely concerned at Hercules Inquest
“As the MP for RAF Lyneham, and for many of the airmen and soldiers who were tragically killed in the enemy downing of Hercules XV179, I was deeply concerned by three elements of Wiltshire Coroner David Masters’ verdict,” said James Gray MP (Conservative, North Wiltshire), speaking in Westminster this afternoon. more..