Royal Air Force's Nimrod Aircraft Grounded

The Royal Air Force's Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft fleet has been grounded by the UK Ministry of Defense (UK MoD) following the finding of a fuel supply pipe defect on 21 February. The Nimrod MR2 fleet, mainly flown out RAF Kinloss in Scotland, was shocked on September 2nd last year when one of its Sharjah based aircraft crashed in Afghanistan, apparently as a result of an accident, rather than enemy fire.

Fourteen servicemen died in the crash, which occurred during an operation to support Nato forces engaged in an offensive against the Taliban in the unstable southern Helmand province. The MoD emphasized that today's decision "should not be construed as prejudging the findings of the Board of Inquiry". However it is known that the downed crew had declared an emergency because of an inflight fire that happened shortly after an inflight refuelling.

The RAF is calling the 23 February grounding decision a "precautionary measure" and a temporary halt to operations. The Nimrod received some add-on plumbing to enable an aerial refuelling capability during the 1982 campaign to recover the Falklands Islands Group from invading Argentinians. The Nimrods and USN P3 Orions are used in Afghanistan for covert surveillance and communications and are fitted with special consoles and augmented crews for those tasks.