The Loss of Nimrod XV230

On 2 September 2006, a Nimrod aircraft, being operated over Afghanistan by the UK Royal Air Force, caught fire shortly after air-to-air refuelling (AAR) had taken place and crashed after a loss of control caused by the effects of the fire. All 14 of the occupants were killed. Although the loss occurred in a military operational theatre, it was not related in any way to the military task being undertaken except insofar as the immediate origin of the accident was the aerial refueling.

RAF Board of Inquiry

In accordance with standard procedures, an RAF Board of Enquiry was convened and found that the most probable physical cause of the loss of the aircraft was “the escape of fuel during Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR)” after which the fuel was ignited by “contact with an exposed element of the aircraft’s Cross-Feed/Supplementary Cooling Pack (SCP) duct”.