The MoD said it would not comment, but in a statement, Air Marshal Sir Barry Thornton, the RAF's most senior engineer, said: "We have stopped air-to-air refuelling and no longer use the very hot air systems in flight.
"This eradicates any dangers from the serious design failures noted by the coroner that have been present in this aircraft since the 1980s.
"These measures have been supplemented with enhanced aircraft maintenance and inspection procedures to ensure the aircraft, as it is today, is safe to fly."
He added: "We would not ask our personnel to fly in aircraft we did not believe were safe."
Can anyone confirm or deny the suggestion that Air Marshal Sir Barry Thornton was in fact the first head of the Nimrod IPT?
If correct he clearly has a slight conflict of interest in this situation as it could be argued that he forms a long line of senior RAF staff that missed the serious design flaw within the Nimrod!