Nimrod inquest families view plane

The 37-year-old reconnaissance aircraft exploded in a ball of flames just minutes after undergoing air-to-air refuelling near Kandahar on September 2 2006, killing all on board.

The inquest into their deaths began with a visit by the court, including the families of the victims, to RAF Brize Norton.

They will view a Nimrod plane like the one their loved ones flew in and see the engine partially stripped down.

The hearing, being presided over by Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker, will start in earnest on Wednesday.

An RAF Board of Inquiry into the loss of the plane, call sign XV230, found that ageing components and a lack of modern fire suppressants were among the "contributory factors" which led to the accident.

The deaths of the servicemen was the heaviest loss of life to be suffered by British forces in a single incident since the Falklands War.

The BoI found that the most probable cause of the crash was an escape of fuel during the air-to-air refuelling either as a result of an overflow or a leakage from the aircraft's fuel system.

The 12 RAF personnel killed were Flt Lt Steven Johnson, Flt Lt Leigh Anthony Mitchelmore, Flt Lt Gareth Rodney Nicholas, Flt Lt Allan James Squires, Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, Flt Sgt Gary Wayne Andrews, Flt Sgt Stephen Beattie, Flt Sgt Gerard Martin Bell and Flt Sgt Adrian Davies, Sgt Benjamin James Knight, Sgt John Joseph Langton and Sgt Gary Paul Quilliam.

L/Cpl Oliver Simon Dicketts, from the Parachute Regiment, and Royal Marine Joseph David Windall also died.