MoD rejects coroner's call to ground Nimrod fleet after stinging verdict on deaths of 14 British crew

Andrew Walker urged ministers to ground the 15 aircraft which remain in service.

His comments follow a hearing into the deaths of 14 men killed when a fuel leak caused a Nimrod to explode in mid-air in 2006.

Family members lay down flowers outside Oxford Coroners court before the verdict is delivered into the Nimrod air crash in Afghanistan

However, the Ministry of Defence angered the dead men's families by announcing it will carry on using the electronic surveillance planes.

Mr Walker accused the RAF of a 'cavalier' approach to aircraft safety after hearing evidence that Nimrods have operated with a fundamental design flaw for years.

The assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire has become known for his blunt criticism of the MoD over military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He heard how one of the fleet, Nimrod XV230, was on a mission to spy on the Taliban in southern Afghanistan when it caught fire shortly after air-to-air refuelling on September 2, 2006.

Bethany (centre) and Cameron Beattie (right), and their mother Shona, lay a single white rose in memory of their father Flt Sgt Stephen Beattie

The crew were unable to tackle the flames  -  which took hold in a sealed compartment with no automatic fire extinguisher  -  and so they made an emergency descent towards the nearest safe airstrip at Kandahar.

But just six minutes after the first fire alarm, the aircraft exploded in mid-air. All those on board were killed. The two-week hearing in Oxford heard evidence of a glaring design fault, which meant that a fuel pipe passed close to a bare hot air pipe.

This reached temperatures of 500c in flight, and was in an inaccessible compartment with no firefighting system.

The RAF's official inquiry blamed fuel in 'dry bay seven' for the explosion.

But Mr Walker said yesterday the Nimrod design did not comply with the relevant safety standards and was not airworthy even when first cleared for service in 1969.

The 14 servicemen died when their Nimrod spy plane exploded in a ball of flames just minutes after undergoing air-to-air refuelling near Kandahar on September 2, 2006

The fleet is long overdue for replacement, but scheduled to fly until 2011 because of delays in building new spy planes.

Even as the bereaved relatives held a press conference outside court yesterday, the MoD declared that the Nimrods, based at RAF Kinloss in Scotland, would not be grounded.

Officials insisted that new measures have removed the risk of a similar accident, as air-to-air refuelling has been banned for Nimrods and the hot air system involved is now switched off for all flights.

Defence minister Bob Ainsworth said: 'The Nimrod is saving lives in operational theatres every day.

Tragic: Flight Sergeant Adrian Davies, Flight Lieutenant Lee Anthony Mitchelmore, Flight Lieutenant Gareth Rodney Nicholas, Sergeant Benjamin James Knight and Sergeant Gary Paul Quilliam, Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, Sgt John Joseph Langton. Bottom row left to right: Flight Sergeant Stephen Beattie, Flight Lieutenant Allan James Squires, Flight Sergeant Gary Wayne Andrews, Flight Sergeant Gerard Martin Bell and Flight Lieutenant Steven Johnson, Mne Joseph David Windall, Royal Marines and L Cpl Oliver Simon Dicketts, Parachute Regiment

'If it was not safe, we would not be flying it. It is safe with the measures we have taken and that is why we will not be grounding the fleet.'

He did not deny the existence of the design fault, adding: 'On behalf of the MoD and the RAF, I would like to apologise again to the families of those who died for our failings, which led to this tragic incident.'

The news that Nimrods would still fly was met with gasps of astonishment from the families, who believed the evidence of continuing danger was overwhelming.

Family members of the dead servicemen comfort each other outside Oxford Coroners court

 Andy Knight, whose brother Sergeant Ben Knight was among those killed, said the decision was 'an insult.'

Earlier this month, senior High Court judges ruled that the MoD could be liable under human rights laws if troops are killed due to sub- standard equipment.

Joseph Windall, whose 22-year-old son Joe died in the Nimrod accident, said: 'This shows an appalling lack of care for our fighting men  -  to send them to war with ancient, inadequate equipment services.'

Coroner Andrew Walker has called for the entire RAF Nimrod fleet to be grounded

'The Nimrods are a relic from a bygone age. They belong in the air museum at Duxford. It is a dreadful indictment of the Government's cost- cutting policy.'

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey called for an inquiry, saying the coroner's findings would 'shake the MoD to its foundations.'

He added: ' The verdict exposes the Government's disgraceful attitude towards the armed services.'