Our campaign for Hercules Safety

To: Des Browne, Secretary of State for Defence

In January 2005 10 lives were lost when a RAF Hercules transporter plane was brought down by ground fire in northern Iraq.
It has emerged that a safety system that could have prevented the crash was not installed.

Our previous defence secretary John Reid gave permission for
explosive suppressant technology to be fitted to some of our Hercules transport planes at some point in the future. He has not made this incomplete decision in an acceptable timeframe as the report that recommended the implementation of this safety system suggested it six months ago, as a matter of urgency.

It has taken a vast amount of campaigning from aircrew and relatives of the crew of XV179. This has been done to add pressure and send out the call for the foam inertion system. It is not enough that suppressant technology is to be fitted to some of the Hercules aircraft at some point. It must be fitted to all the fleet with immediate effect.

The men and women of the British armed forces are not expendable assets who have forfeited their right to life because they chose to take the queens shilling. It is therefore, not acceptable to deny them any duty of care from the government, especially based on no other reasonable factor other than cost.

The Americans have had this technology fitted since the sixties and the Australians have followed their lead and actioned the fitting of foam suppressant to avoid any loss of life and aircraft alike. Are the lives of our service personnel worth less than their coalition counterparts?
Our armed forces accept that they are to take risks but not unacceptable risks.

We call on you to initiate fleet wide fitting of suppressant technology now.

Sincerely,
Sarah Chapman, sister of Bob O'Connor, died in Iraq January 2005