Daily Record today:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm...name_page.html
SCANDAL OF RAF NIMROD KEPT IN AIR BY A TEAPOT
Air crew claim every flight is hit by major problem
THE crew of an RAF Nimrod had to use a TEAPOT to repair their ageing plane in mid-air.
The airmen jammed the pot into an eight-inch hole left in the fuselage when a hatch door failed to close properly.
Without the emergency repair, the crew would have had no air pressure inside the jet.
A whistleblower last night said the problem summed up the pitiful state of our Nimrods. He claimed: "The fleet is a shambles. Every flight has major problems."
The source, a senior RAF officer, said the teapot incident took place after the Nimrod took off from Cornwall. He added: "The aircraft had to limp home at 8000ft with the teapot over an eight-inch hole in the fuselage because the pressure doors couldn't close - again."
The officer also told how some Nimrods are flying with instruments held on with sticky tape.
And he revealed that Nimrod crews have reported four major fuel leaks since the crash that killed 14 servicemen in Afghanistan in September.
A broken pipe during refuelling is suspected of causing the crash, but crews have just been told to resume refuelling in mid-air.
Moray MSP Angus Robertson, whose constituency includes the Nimrod base at RAF Kinloss, vowed to raise the officer's concerns in the Commons.
The commanding officer at Kinloss, Group Captain Jerry Kessell, confirmed the teapot incident but said the crew were never in any danger. He said cabin pressure was only needed to "make things more comfortable and heat up the plane".