7:00pm Monday 3rd December 2007
By Jane Reader
A LONG-AWAITED report into the tragic RAF Nimrod explosion which claimed the life of Highcliffe officer Leigh Mitchelmore was due to be released today.
Criticism of the government as well as senior RAF officers was expected after the plane blew up over Afghanistan in September 2006, killing all 14 on board.
Father-of-two Flt Lt Mitchelmore was just 28 when he lost his life during a NATO surveillance mission. The former Highcliffe School pupil, who studied law at Southampton University, was due to move to Scotland with his family at the time of his tragic death.
The RAF Board of Inquiry report is likely to raise doubts over the Prime Minister's support for the armed services, an issue already in the spotlight.
The aircraft, which dates from the 1960s, was flying only because its replacement was delayed until 2010 to save money.
A number of warnings about the risks involved with the aircraft are also said to have been ignored, including fuel leaking into the bomb bay, first identified in August 2004, and a burst pipe pouring hot air on to a fuel tank, also spotted in 2004.
The report is likely to conclude that a fire in the bomb bay led to the explosion at 3,000ft as the pilot desperately tried to land at Kandahar on September 2 last year.
Repeated warnings about the dangers of using the aircraft from such authoritative sources as BAE Systems and defence consultants QinetiQ were ignored by the Ministry of Defence, it has been claimed.
Gordon Brown's treatment of the forces was thrust into the news last week when former chief of defence staff Lord Guthrie criticised him during a House of Lords debate.
He said of the Prime Minister: "He was a most unsympathetic Chancellor of the Exchequer as far as defence was concerned."
And he added: "I think really that he must take much of the blame for the serious situation we find the services in today."
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