Page Not Found.
We could not find the page you requested.
This is either because:
- there's an error in the address or link,
- due to a technical fault it has not been properly published,
- it is an older article that has been removed from our site.
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) transport aircraft flying over Iraq are equipped with a safety device missing from a British plane shot down in 2005, in which an Australian died.
Documents obtained by the BBC show that an Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules shot down over Iraq with the loss of all aboard in January last year was not equipped with the explosive-suppressant foam devices fitted to the Australian aircraft.
The British aircraft crashed after it was hit by ground fire that caused an explosion in the right-wing fuel tank.
It was the biggest single loss of British life in Iraq since the invasion of the country in 2003.
Former RAAF airman Flight Lieutenant Paul Pardoel, of Victoria, was among those killed.
The 35-year-old, father-of-three had lived in Britain for three years and was on contract to the RAF.
An Australian defence spokesman said the protective equipment aboard RAAF C-130H and C-130J model Hercules included electronic warfare self-protection equipment, explosives suppression foam and ballistic protection systems.
Flight decks are protected by additional armour.
The spokesman said there had been occasions when countermeasures had been deployed.
"C-130 electronic warfare self-protection systems are designed to provide protection from sensed ground-to-air threats," he said.
"The specific nature, frequency and timings of sensed threats are classified as they provide a potential source of feedback to those seeking to harm ADF (Australian Defence Force) personnel. This feedback could be utilised by those potentially targeting ADF people to refine and improve their tactics."
In one reported incident, a single insurgent bullet penetrated a RAAF C-130, striking an American passenger to the back of the head, killing him instantly.
As well as protective measures aboard the aircraft, RAAF crews adopt flight profiles designed to minimise the risk of attack by insurgents armed with either small arms or shoulder-launched missiles.
Flying to and from Baghdad International Airport, RAAF C-130s descend to near tree-top level and follow the terrain to minimise the time for an insurgent to attack.
In a statement, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) acknowledged that the RAF board of inquiry into the crash had found the lack of a fuel tank inerting system had been among the contributing factors.
"Whilst such a system may have prevented an explosion in the wing, the board concluded that it would not necessarily have prevented a fire," it said.
"Although such a system would have increased the probability of the aircraft's survival, neither the board of inquiry nor the independent senior air accident investigator concluded that it would definitely have changed the tragic outcome."
Paul Pardoel's father, John Pardoel said he didn't understand why the British air force had only begun to use the system this month
"Other air forces used it but they didn't, and I don't know why," Mr Pardoel told ABC radio.
"This is after the facts, now the question remains, of course, why they didn't and others did."
Brought to you by