2005 Royal Air Force Hercules shootdown

2005 Royal Air Force Hercules shootdown

A Hercules C3 similar to the aircraft shot down
Incident summary
Date 30 January 2005
Summary Hostile ground fire
Site Iraq
Passengers 4
Crew 6
Fatalities 10
Injuries (non-fatal) 0
Survivors 0
Aircraft type Lockheed C-130K Hercules C3
Operator Royal Air Force
Registration XV179
Flight origin Baghdad
Destination Balad

The 2005 Royal Air Force Hercules shootdown was the loss of a Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130K Hercules C3, serial number XV179, callsign Hilton 22, when it was shot down in Iraq, probably by Sunni insurgents, on 30 January 2005, killing all 10 personnel on board. At the time, the incident was the largest single loss of life suffered by the British military during Operation Telic.

The Board of Inquiry report in December 2005 identified the lack of a fire-suppressant system as a contributory factor. In September 2006, the British Channel 4 News aired an article criticising the Ministry of Defence for having fitted only one C-130 Hercules with a foam fire-suppressant system. The RAF had ordered a retrofit of this system to all front-line C130 aircraft, a system which could well have prevented the loss of aircraft XV179 and its crew.

Incident

On 30 January 2005, Hercules XV179 took off from Baghdad at 1622 local time. It was to fly at low level to Balad to deliver freight and the single passenger Acting L/Cpl Steven Jones of the Royal Signals. Six minutes later it reported a fire on board, L/Cpl Jones, stating: "No duff, no duff, We are on fire, we are on fire".[1] and it was confirmed "missing" at 1655.

American Apache helicopters located the crash site 45 minutes after the distress call. As the site was in a hostile area, the priority was for human remains, personal effects and classified material to be recovered at the time. Part of the right hand wing had been detached and it was found over a mile from the crash site. The investigating team was only able to spend a short time at both sites. G Squadron of the 22nd SAS Regiment immediately began hunting down the insurgents responsible, after a long intelligence operation, supported by US JSTARS, that led to operations later in that year the SAS captured some of those responsible.[2] By 3 February the site had been looted and the wreckage taken; it was decided not to attempt to recover the wreckage from the looters. Those killed included eight crew from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, another RAF serviceman and one soldier.[3]

Board of Inquiry

The Board of Inquiry was convened on 31 January 2005 and reported in August. Without witnesses and lacking evidence the investigation worked by eliminating possible causes for the crash and then analysing remaining possibilities. The Board came to the conclusion that the aircraft had been shot down by ground fire; a projectile had penetrated the starboard wing fuel tank, causing a fire in the wing, the subsequent explosion leading to the loss of 23 ft of wing including the aileron. As such the aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed. The Board found that there were contributory factors: flying low in daylight, lack of fire retarding technology in the fuel tanks, and a lack of up to date information on threats in the area.[4]

The aircraft was fitted with various defences including the "Nemesis Directional Infra-Red Countermeasures", flares, chaff and a missile warning system.

An internal RAF investigation concluded that a foam suppressant system might have prevented the loss of the aircraft and that "as a matter of urgency" all aircraft exposed to such risks should be fitted, at a cost of £600,000 each.

Controversy

Most United States Air Force (USAF) Hercules aircraft are fitted with ESF and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Hercules aircraft are to be fitted with the foam system. Pilots from these air forces serving on exchange had expressed grave concerns about the safety of RAF Hercules, as did some RAF pilots themselves. However, most accepted that there was a degree of military risk in their jobs, and like Steady and his crew, got on with it.

Air Marshal Sir John Baird, in writing to a relative of a killed serviceman called the situation a national disgrace. He said fitting the foam system now was "too little, too late". The later Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Glenn Torpy, in writing to a relative of one killed, stated that all British servicemen are given all necessary safety equipment for their mission and that "until the loss of XV179, the Hercules aircraft was not judged vulnerable to this kind of attack". It was also noted in the Channel 4 program that XV179 was not the first Hercules flying in Iraq to be hit in the fuel tank by ground fire.

No one from the MOD was available to be interviewed by Channel 4 News, though a statement was issued:

“ Our aircraft are fitted with defence and survivability aids to reflect the operational environment in which they are deployed, however, no operational flying can ever be risk free. Since the loss of XV179 the MOD has started fuel tank inerting as a matter of urgency and we have decided to fit the explosive suppressant foam to some of our aircraft. The first aircraft is now fully fitted. ”

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "Last call from doomed Hercules played at inquest" The Sun 02 Apr 2008
  2. ↑ Urban, Mark, Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq , St. Martin's Griffin , 2012 ISBN 1250006961 ISBN 978-1250006967, p.73
  3. ↑ BBC NEWS UK Hercules crash site search ends
  4. ↑ Inquiry report Section 53.
Bibliography

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