Worker reveals 'Nimrod problems'

This my 500th post on this blog and it's probably on the subject closest to my heart, the armed forces and in particular the RAF.

Tomorrow will see the publication of a report into a Nimrod crash in Afghanistan which killed 14 Military Personnel last year. It is likely to be bad reading for those in the RAF, MOD and this callous government. It will also confirm the fears of the relatives that their loved ones died because of known and fixable problems.

I have blogged before on the problems and still cannot believe that they have not been sorted out or workarounds put in place. The replacement for the Nimrod is still probably 5 years away and guess what it will be yet another Nimrod still using the current airframes.

This report reveals

An insider at Kinloss said that fuel leaks among the fleet were "perpetual".

The Ministry of Defence declined to comment ahead of the Board of Inquiry findings on Tuesday.

The BBC has learned that the aircraft which crashed in Afghanistan was being worked hard and flying sometimes twice a day.

It also had seven fuel leaks on board which were not due to be fixed for several months.

Also having watched Newsnight tonight we were informed by an expert that basically the Nimrod is not airworthy and that the only reason it is flying is for operational reasons to support the troops in Afghanistan. Whilst I can understand that reasoning, the lack of money being spent to sort out the problem is nothing less than criminal.

Just listened to John Nicol on Radio 4 confirming that basically these planes would be grounded if there were not urgent operational reasons for keeping them flying. This is another example of where we are breaking the Military Covenant. Nowhere else would we put up with sort of situation and ask people to put their lives on the line.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | North East/N Isles | Worker reveals 'Nimrod problems'