RAF Nimrods

On September 2, 2006, RAF Nimrod MR2 XV230 caught fire in mid-air over Afghanistan shortly after completing an air-to-air refueling operation. The crew had time to declare Mayday and begin an emergency descent, but the aircraft exploded at 3000 feet altitude and all fourteen crew died. 

Some form of subtle, low-key and indirect political interference may also have been going on in developments that led to the Nimrod accident (Chapter 9). The RAF Nimrods were near the end of their operational lives when safety reviews were initiated on all aircraft. The translation by civil servants of politically driven financial constraints into detailed work plans meant that contractors were told to do a quick and cheap safety review on the Nimrod, and they were apparently expected not to find anything significantly wrong. As a result, major safety deficiencies were overlooked. One possible conclusion is this You do not have to live in a dictatorship to feel political interference. 

Haddon-Cave, C. The Nimrod Review An independent review into the broader issues surrounding the loss of the RAF Nimrod MR2 Aircraft XV230 in Afghanistan in 2006. Report, The Stationery Office, London, UK (2009),... 

The RAF s Nimrod MR2 s role was anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface unit warfare. Its airframe was derived from the De Havilland Comet, so the Nimrod s lineage dated back to the 1950s. The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MRl entered service in 1969, and the upgraded MR2 variant entered service in 1979. Hawker Siddeley Aviation became part of BAE Systems in 1977. 

The Nimrod was retired from RAF service in 2010. Since then, for the first time since the Second World War, the UK has no long-range maritime reconnaissance capability. 

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