The Nimrod Review - Official Documents

CHAPTER 10A – NIMROD SAFETY CASE:
THE FACTS (PHASES 1 AND 2)
Contents
Chapter 10A – Nimrod Safety Case: The Facts (Phases 1 and 2)
“There was an element of the blind leading the blind.”
(Former senior RAF officer)
Chapters 10A and 10B set out the detailed chronological facts regarding the preparation of the Nimrod Safety Case.
They answer the following questions:
Who was responsible for drawing up the Nimrod Safety Case?
When, how and by whom was it produced?
What roles did each of the particular organisations and individuals play?
How long did it take and how much did it cost?
What did it comprise and what happened during its production?
What was the end result?
Chapter 10A deals with Phases 1 and 2 of the Nimrod Safety Case.
Chapter 10B deals with the Third Phase.
Summary
1. The purpose of Safety Cases is to identify, assess and address serious risks to equipment and
installations before it is too late.
2. The Nimrod Safety Case should have identified the potential for the catastrophic fire which caused
the loss of Nimrod XV230 in September 2006. It singularly failed to do so. The best opportunity to
prevent the accident was, therefore, lost.
3. The Nimrod Safety Case took a total of nearly four years to produce (April 2001 to March 2005) and
cost in excess of £400,000.
4. Three organisations were involved in drawing up the Nimrod Safety Case:
BAE Systems, which was the ‘Design Authority’ for the Nimrod aircraft and formally tasked by
the Nimrod IPT to draw up a Safety Case for the two aircraft types, Nimrod MR2 and R1;
The Nimrod IPT, which was the ‘Integrated Project Team’ within the MOD Defence Logistics
Organisation with specific responsibility for the Nimrod MR2 and R1 fleets; and
QinetiQ, which acted as ‘Independent Advisor’ to the Nimrod IPT in relation to the Nimrod
Safety Case.
5. The Nimrod Safety Case was drawn up in three phases:
5.1 Phase 1 conducted by BAE Systems (April 2001 to April 2003): Following initial scoping and
formalisation of Phase 1 of the Nimrod Safety Case task, BAE Systems carried out zonal inspections
of Nimrod aircraft at RAF Kinloss and RAF Waddington and delivered a ‘hazard identification’
Report to the Nimrod IPT in April 2003. 1
1 BAE Systems Nimrod MR Mk2-Baseline Safety Case (Phase 1) Zonal Hazard Analysis Report Reference: MBU-DEF-R-NIM-FS00538, dated
April 2003.
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