As I approach my 70th anniversary I am minded of the anniversary that I would rather did not exist - when the MR fleet and 120 Squadron lost one of their aircraft and crews in operations in Afghanistan.
May I take the opportunity to extend my sympathy to all of the families concerned.
I was prompted to post by the article that precedes this one concerning the bomb bay fire system that isn't; I was on board what I believe was the first Nimrod that had a bomb bay fire problem and I know only too well how vulnerable the aircraft is in this area and I was indeed surprised to see that this vulnerability had still not been fixed! The existence of the IFR capability has actually exacerbated this vulnerability.
On that one we were fortunate in that the No 6 tank did not explode with the heat from the fire, as it was, amongst other things, we lost hydraulic services which included one of the primary flying controls services and undercarriage.
We did not have an emergency drill for a bomb bay fire in those days and the engineer on board 'Moose Moxon, was a relative rookie but he coped admirably as did the rest of the crew!
I am sorry but I have digressed from the thread so once again I offer my heartfelt condolences on this sad anniversary.
GT