don-Cave Review
I’d like to thank all of you that have commented on my views on where the fire occurred on XV230. Sadly nothing can bring back the aircraft and the fourteen lives that were lost but I think it is important that the real source of the fire should appreciated and that it is understood the Haddon-Cave Review failed in that respect.
The RAF Board of Inquiry did not appreciate the real danger of the NACA intake 2.1 metres behind the blow off valve taking cooling air onto the Secondary Cooling Pack intercooler at over 450°C. However what I find inexplicable is the Haddon-Cave Review which states clearly in para 3.15:-
"The Review’s Terms of Reference are expressed to be “in light of the findings of the BOI”. It has therefore been important for me to satisfy myself as to the accuracy and completeness of the findings of the BOI."
Unfortunately the Review did not proceed in a scientific manner to do that. Having mentioned the BAe report which advised more flight tests the Review made no effort to find out where the blow-off fuel actually went which could easily have been done.
The Review did not appreciate that the fire almost certainly started some seconds before the SCP went off line. The bomb fire warning which came on two minutes ten seconds after the SCP went off line was almost certainly triggered by a hot rear bulkhead, not by a fire in the bomb bay. In my view the Review was too easily satisfied that the BOI was right and tried, unconvincingly, to justify the BOI’s analysis.