Remember the mystery surrounding the crash of the British RAF Hercules on Purple Finger Day in Iraq? It was widely reported as a shootdown, but of course, we’ve had to wait for the “facts” to be determined by the state. Here, nearly a year later, is the official pronouncement:
The RAF Hercules plane which crashed in Iraq killing 10 British servicemen in January had come under “hostile fire”, Defence Secretary John Reid has said.Other British reports give more details, though they are apparently not going to be confirmed by the official report.Mr Reid said the investigation board had concluded “the aircraft crashed because it became uncontrollable after hostile ground to air fire.”
IRAQI rebels used a heavy machinegun to down a British C-130 transport, killing all 10 servicemen on board, a newspaper reported today, quoting the results of a 10-month probe.
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A ministry of defence spokesman said he could not confirm the accuracy of the report in The Sun, but added there would be a briefing tomorrow on the findings of the investigation into the January 30 crash near Baghdad.At least one round, probably from a Soviet-made Dshke heavy calibre machine-gun, penetrated the fuel tank in the plane’s right wing during the incident, according to investigators quoted by the newspaper.
The “very lucky shot” caused a massive explosion that sent the four-engined Hercules plummeting to the ground in a fireball, it said.
The plane was “hedge-hopping” – flying fast and low in a combat zone, usually a highly effective means of avoiding enemy ground fire, the newspaper said.
The downed aircraft was on a 70km flight north from Baghdad to the major coalition special forces base at Balad. The Sun said it belonged to the RAF’s elite 47 squadron, who move elite forces soldiers covertly all over the world.
The defence ministry has declined to comment on reports that members of Britain’s elite Special Air Service were aboard the flight.