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Hercules inquest data criticised Hercules inquest data criticised
(30 minutes later)
A coroner at the inquest into the deaths of 10 servicemen in a Hercules air crash says the hearing was "plagued by an inability to retrieve documents".A coroner at the inquest into the deaths of 10 servicemen in a Hercules air crash says the hearing was "plagued by an inability to retrieve documents".
Wiltshire coroner David Masters said the two-month hearing was affected by access to data recording key RAF decisions before the incident in Iraq. Wiltshire coroner David Masters said a military policy of "shredding" documents was "difficult to come to terms with".
Nine RAF personnel and one soldier died when the RAF Hercules aircraft was shot down by enemy fire in 2005. Nine RAF personnel and one soldier died when the RAF Hercules aircraft was shot down by enemy fire in Iraq in 2005.
It was the largest RAF loss of life in a hostile act since World War II.It was the largest RAF loss of life in a hostile act since World War II.
Summing up at Trowbridge town hall, Mr Masters said: "I believe that the ability to retrieve and view documents that record key decisions as not just important, but essential - equally important is the rationale behind them." Summing up at Trowbridge town hall, Mr Masters said the two-month hearing was affected by a lack of data recording key RAF decisions before the incident.
"I believe that the ability to retrieve and view documents that record key decisions as not just important, but essential - equally important is the rationale behind them," he said.
US military
This criticism referred particularly to an apparently unrecorded decision taken by RAF commanders not to fit a key safety feature on Hercules aircraft after they were advised to do so in a military research document in 2002.This criticism referred particularly to an apparently unrecorded decision taken by RAF commanders not to fit a key safety feature on Hercules aircraft after they were advised to do so in a military research document in 2002.
The inquest heard if explosion suppressant foam, or ESF, had been fitted to the Hercules, the crew may still be alive.The inquest heard if explosion suppressant foam, or ESF, had been fitted to the Hercules, the crew may still be alive.
The 2002 document only came to light after a document trawl while the inquest was adjourned over the summer, the coroner said.The 2002 document only came to light after a document trawl while the inquest was adjourned over the summer, the coroner said.
He also said a military policy of "shredding" documents was "difficult to come to terms with". Mr Masters also levelled criticism at the US military, who did not authorise interviews of American servicemen who had witnessed the incident.
"The stance taken by the US is difficult to comprehend," said the coroner.
"I just wonder, what if the boot had been on the other foot - if a US aircraft had come down with the loss of 10 lives and the only eye witnesses had been British forces?"