Families of Nimrod crash victims sue UK military
LONDON: The families of two of the 14 military personnel killed when their Royal Air Force spy plane exploded in Afghanistan began legal proceedings against the British government on Monday.
Attorney John Cooper said papers filed Monday accused the Ministry of Defense of negligence, failing to minimize workplace risk and breaching the airmen's right to life as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights.
Cooper represents the families of Sgt. Ben Knight, 25, and Flight Lt. Steven Swarbrick, 28, who both died in the crash.
Tuesday is the second anniversary of the crash, which caused the military's biggest loss of life in a single incident since the 1982 Falklands War.
The Nimrod MR2 was on an intelligence-gathering mission when it exploded following air-to-air refueling near Kandahar on Sept. 2, 2006. The crash killed 12 crew members, a Royal Marine and an army soldier.
The plane was part of a fleet of 15 aging Nimrod MR2 aircraft that originally had been due to leave service a decade ago. The planes have suffered a series of fuel leaks and other mechanical problems.
An official inquiry found last year that fuel leaking into a dry bay and igniting against a hot pipe was the most likely cause of the fire that destroyed the plane.
The Ministry of Defense says safety issues with the Nimrod have been addressed and the planes are safe to fly. But a coroner investigating the deaths said earlier this year that the entire Nimrod fleet was not airworthy and should be grounded.
This RAF Nimrod MR2 is almost identical to the one involved.
The families of two members of the crew of a United Kingdom RAF Hawker Siddeley Nimrod which crashed almost exactly two years ago during a mission in Afghanistan are suing their government. None of the twelve crew and two other officers on board Royal Air Force Nimrod XV230 survived the midair explosion.

According to a report last year by Assistant Deputy Coroner for Oxford Andrew Walker "The aircraft was in my judgment never airworthy from the first release to service in 1969." The coroner recommended grounding the entire Nimrod fleet, but this was never done, with the government saying that the aircraft were safe after modifications carried out after the crash.

The final report on the accident blamed the crash on a fuel leak into a dry bay, which ignited after contacting an air pipe that was hot. The jet had undergone midair refueling just minutes previously. The plane was one of a fleet of fifteen that were intended for retirement last decade but still operate, despite having suffered various mechanical problems, including fuel leaks.

A writ was today served on UK Defence Secretary Des Browne by the families of Sergeant Ben Knight, 25, and Flight Lieutenant Steven Swarbrick, 28. The writ accuses the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of failing to minimise risks, negligence and denial of the right to life. This last charge makes it the first time the MoD has faced a legal challenge under the European Convention of Human Rights.

Graham Knight, Ben's father, claimed that "Nobody has been held accountable for the actual crash. The Government has stood up and said we are sorry. The coroner has said the aircraft was never airworthy but nobody in the RAF or MoD has ever been held accountable for it." He went on to say he was 'disappointed' in the RAF and that My son was proud to be in the RAF and I thought it was full of honourable men. But no one would stand up and take responsibility or resign."

September 2 will mark the second anniversary of the accident, the biggest loss of UK military lives in a single incident since the war in the Falklands in 1982. It is the last chance for compensation to be sought, as this must be done within two years of the event.