By IRNA,
London : The delayed inquest into 14 British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, when a Nimrod reconnaissance plane crashed in nearly two years ago, formally opened Wednesday with a cockpit recording of moments before the aircraft burst into flames.
The explosion, which resulted in the heaviest single loss of life for British forces since the Falklands war, happened minutes after the spy plane refueled near Kandahar on September 2 2006.
Oxfordshire deputy coroner, Andrew Walker, cleared the court so relatives could listen to the recording in private. He previously requested that the tape be made available at a preliminary hearing but was told it was mislaid and had only recently been found.
A military Board of Inquiry into the incident found that an escape of fuel caused by an overflow or leakage was the most probable cause of the explosion.
The crew was said to have had no option but to attempt an emergency landing at Kandahar airbase, but the aircraft exploded at 914 metres six minutes after the fire broke out.
Doubts about the safety of the 37-year old plane, the oldest in Britain’s Nimrod fleet, have emerged with another reported fuel leak last year and the subsequent suspension of all in-flight refueling.
Replacement MRA4 reconnaissance planes were also due to enter service back in 2003 but significant problems during the development and construction has resulted in lengthy programme delays and the in-service date slipping 6 years to 2009.