2005 Royal Air Force Hercules shootdown

Shooting down of a Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130K Hercules C1 January 2017 January 2017 October 2019 2005 Royal Air Force Hercules shootdown Incident Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130 XV179.jpg 1.15 XV179, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in July 1987 30 January 2005 Hostile ground fire Iraq 33 31 53.7 N 44 02 55.5 E type:event inline,title Lockheed C-130K Hercules C1 UK XV179 Baghdad Balad 10 2 8 10 0 On 30 January 2005, a Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130K Hercules C1, serial number XV179, callsign Hilton 22, was shot down in Iraq, probably by Sunni insurgents, 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. Attack On 30 January 2005, Hercules XV179 of No. 47 Squadron RAF took off from Baghdad at 1624 local time.Aircraft accident report to Royal Air Force Hercules XV179 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/82773/hercules_crash_maas.pdf gov.uk Royal Air Force 31 January 2017 3 November 2005 It was to fly at low level to Balad to deliver freight and the single passenger, Squadron Leader Marshall. Another supernumerary service person on board was a Survival Equipment Fitter. Everyone on board was on active service.Reid 2005 9 Six minutes later, it was reported that the aircraft had a fire on board with the Royal Signals signaller, L/Cpl Jones (the only non-RAF service person aboard) stating: "No duff, no duff, We are on fire, we are on fire!"'No duff' is military slang for not a drill.BBC NEWS UK England Wiltshire Hercules 'on fire', inquest told https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/7324343.stm 30 January 2017 news.bbc.co.uk 1 April 2008 It was confirmed that the aircraft was "missing" at 16:55 local time (13:55 Zulu time in the report).At that time of year, Iraqi local time was GMT+3. Regardless of where UK forces are deployed worldwide, all action is undertaken in Zulu time which remains constant throughout the year despite daylight saving time.Reid 2005 6Aircraft accident report to Royal Air Force Hercules XV179 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/82773/hercules_crash_maas.pdf gov.uk Royal Air Force 31 January 2017 2 November 2005 American Apache helicopters located the crash site 45 minutes after the distress call, which was located 25 mi north west of Baghdad.BBC NEWS UK England Wiltshire Hercules 'sent distress signal' https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/4375707.stm 30 January 2017 news.bbc.co.uk 23 March 2005 As the site was in a hostile area, the priority was for the recovery of the passengers and crew, personal effects and classified material. To that end, a team of USAF PJs was scrambled to search for survivors and secure the site. Part of the right hand wing was found to have separated from the body of the aircraft, and it was located 1.3 mi south-southwest of the main crash site.Reid 2005 14 The Board of Inquiry (BoI) investigating team travelled to the crash site 65 hours after the loss of the aircraft. They were only able to spend a short time at both sites due to local hostilities with a cordon and security being provided by 150 United States Marine Corps personnel.Reid 2005 7 The BoI team had all the remaining wreckage dragged into a canal to deter further looting by locals. The tailfin of the aircraft was destroyed on site on orders of the BoI team, to prevent its use as a backdrop in propaganda videos.Nichol 2008 139 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 in which the SAS captured some of those responsible.Urban, Mark, Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq , St. Martin's Griffin, 2012 1250006961 978-1250006967, p.73 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 were eight crew from No. 47 Squadron, based at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire; another RAF serviceman and one soldier.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4233819.stm Hercules crash site search ends BBC News 3 February 2005 31 January 2017 Board of Inquiry The Board of Inquiry was convened on 31 January 2005 and reported in August. Without witnesses, no in-flight data recorder (ADR)Nichol 2008 139 and lacking evidence, the investigation worked by eliminating possible causes for the crash and then analysing remaining possibilities.Reid 2005 17–36 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. Therefore, the aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed.Stewart Elizabeth Hercules crash: 'The left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing' https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/22/hercules-inquest-background 30 January 2017 The Guardian 22 October 2008 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.Reid 2005 36 It was later discovered that two American Black Hawk helicopters had been targeted by surface-to-air missiles in the region where the Hercules was shot down. This information was not passed on to the crew of the Hercules because the Intelligence Officer in the area was unaware of the Hercules' presence, let alone the flight plan that had been filed for its journey.Nichol 2008 135–136 The aircraft was fitted with various defences including a Directional Infra-Red Countermeasures system, flares, chaff and a missile warning system.Reid 2005 7–8 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 so fitted, at a cost of £600,000 each.Hoyle Craig UK deal with Marshall Aerospace for foam protection to be installed on C-130 Hercules https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/uk-deal-with-marshall-aerospace-for-foam-protection-to-be-installed-on-c-130-206475/ Flightglobal.com 30 January 2017 9 May 2006 Controversy Most United States Air Force (USAF) Hercules aircraft were fitted with Explosion Suppressant Foam (ESF) since the Vietnam war.BBC NEWS UK Hercules crew tactics questioned https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7354076.stm 30 January 2017 news.bbc.co.uk 19 April 2008 Similarly, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Hercules aircraft were fitted with the foam system in 2004.Gilbert Nigel How many more Lyneham crews must die? http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/1244766.0/ 30 January 2017 This Is Wiltshire 8 March 2007 en Pilots from these air forces serving on exchange had expressed grave concerns about the safety of RAF Hercules, as did some RAF pilots, such as Squadron Leader Chris Seal who had written a memo in 2002 detailing lessons learned in Afghanistan and the necessity to fit ESF in all Hercules aircraft.Nichol 2008 136–137 As an example, one USAF aircraft was shot 19 times while overflying Iraq, but managed to land safely because of the ESF.BBC NEWS UK RAF pilots 'asked for tank foam' https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4963746.stm 30 January 2017 news.bbc.co.uk 2 May 2006 However, most accepted that there was a degree of military risk in their jobs, and like Steady and his crew, got on with it. At the inquest, an Air Force witness who remained unidentified and was called 'EA' admitted that he had sacked a US Air Force pilot who had refused to carry out daylight low flying. Air Marshal Sir John Baird, 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"February 2011. The later Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Glenn Torpy, 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 a Channel 4 programme 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.February 2011 Inquest An inquest was opened in April 2008 and was presided over by the Wiltshire Coroner, David Masters, who delivered his verdict 22 October of the same year. His narrative verdict recorded that the men had died as a result of "unlawful killing by terrorist insurgents". He also found that the Royal Air Force and the Ministry of Defence let the families down by their failure [to fit the ESF] and accused them both of having "serious systemic failures".'Failures' caused Hercules deaths https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7683909.stm 31 January 2017 news.bbc.co.uk 22 October 2008 The president of the Board of Inquiry, Wing Commander John Reid, gave evidence in court to the effect that while he considered the lack of fitting the ESF to aircraft was bad enough, the fact that intelligence reports had not been properly disseminated to the crew was a "failure of intelligence", which he regarded as a bigger blunder.Lyneham inquest: Verdict due today http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/3780162.Lyneham_inquest__Verdict_due_today/ 31 January 2017 This Is Wiltshire 22 October 2008 en Notes "note" References Sources Nichol John Iraq; a tribute to fallen heroes Edinburgh, UK Mainstream publishing 2008 9781845964078 John P Q (Wing Commander (RAF)) Reid 11 October 2005 Royal Air Force Board of Inquiry into the loss of Hercules XV179 (Iraq 30 Jan 05) http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/20F22B57-C1BA-4715-AC38-F2E1604A78CF/0/boi_raf_hercules.pdf http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121026065214/www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/20F22B57-C1BA-4715-AC38-F2E1604A78CF/0/boi_raf_hercules.pdf dead 26 October 2012 Royal Air Force/Ministry of Defence https://archive.today/20090805093130/http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=3314 Channel 4 report https://archive.today/20090805093125/http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=3307 Channel 4 report Ten feared dead in Hercules crash The Australian news report Further reading Official RAF Board of Inquiry document Military Aircraft Accident Summary for XV179 mod.uk Category:2005 disasters in Iraq Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2005 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Iraq Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed C-130 Hercules Category:Accidents and incidents involving Royal Air Force aircraft Category:21st-century aircraft shootdown incidents Category:January 2005 in Iraq Category:21st-century history of the Royal Air Force Category:Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) Category:United Kingdom in the Iraq War Category:2005 in Baghdad Category:Balad in the Iraq War Category:Baghdad in the Iraq War