Armed Forces International learnt on the 23^rd May of the verdict given by coroner Andrew Walker on the deaths of 14 British military personnel in an RAF Nimrod.

The air force's Nimrod fleet, said Walker, had "never been airworthy."

The 14 armed forces members died when the Nimrod they were flying in exploded over Afghanistan in 2006.

Shortly before the incident, the Nimrod had taken on fuel from a tanker aircraft.

The explosion caused the largest loss of life among the British armed forces from a single event since the Falklands Conflict 24 years previously.

Nimrod Components

A report carried out by an RAF Board of Inquiry said that the accident occurred in part due to the age of some of the Nimrod's components, combined with the absence of up-to-date fire extinguishers. It was likely, it added, that fuel had escaped when the aircraft was engaged in air-to-air refuelling.

Those that died in the Nimrod, said Walker, could not have known of the aircraft's un-airworthiness.

Earlier this week, an engineer representing BAE Systems spoke of how those working on the Nimrod before his time had omitted to install a fire protection system in an area of the aircraft where the risk of fire was high.

Nimrod Flight Ban

Yesterday, Mr Walker stated that he was contemplating a variety of safety recommendations, which included banning all RAF Nimrods from flight.

In Walker's opinion, as expressed today, the RAF's fleet of Nimrods had "never been airworthy from the first time it was released to service."

It should be noted that Walker's opinion is not one that the MoD is obliged to act upon.

The 14 British servicemen that died in the Nimrod were:

• Flight Lieutenant Steven Johnson
• Flight Lieutenant Leigh Anthony Mitchelmore
• Flight Lieutenant Gareth Rodney Nicholas
• Flight Lieutenant Allan James Squires
• Flight Lieutenant Steven Swarbrick.
• Flight Sergeant Gary Wayne Andrews
• Flight Sergeant Stephen Beattie
• Flight Sergeant Gerard Martin Bell
• Flight Sergeant Adrian Davies
• Sergeant Benjamin James Knight
• Sergeant John Joseph Langton
• Sergeant Gary Paul Quilliam
• Lance Corporal Oliver Simon Dicketts
• Royal Marine Joseph David Windall

Source - Armed Forces International's Political Correspondent

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