LYN Kelly, whose son Richard Brown was killed in Iraq when his Hercules transporter plane exploded in mid-air, has said that fire suppressant foam should be fitted in Hercules aircraft. The plane was brought down over northern Iraq in January 2005 after the fuel tank was hit by ground fire, killing all 10 servicemen on board. Mrs Kelly of Stadium Drive, Kingskerswell, said it was not certain the crew would have been saved even it the plane had the foam fitted. 'He always felt safe in the Hercules. It had taken many pot shots and nothing got through to the fuel tanks. It was terribly sad what happened to them, but this is warfare. 'You can't do anything about the past. We can only think about the future and if it will save lives, it will have to be done,' she said. Sarah Chapman, sister of Bob O'Connor, another crew member of Hercules XV179, has been active in campaigning with Families Against War to get the foam fitted. A petition to Des Browne, Defence Secretary, has so far attracted 2,771 signatures, many from servicemen and women and their families. Ms Chapman has criticised the government that in the 18 months since the tragedy, only one Hercules has been fitted with the fire-retardant. '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 Queen's 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,' she says in the petition. The Americans have had the technology since the '60s and the Australians also have fitted the foam in their aircraft. The work would cost £600,000 per aircraft. A Board of Enquiry into the Hercules crash recommended six months ago that the fire-suppressant foam should be fitted as a matter of urgency. An MOS spokeswoman confirmed that only one plane had been fitted so far. She said that operational flying could never be a risk-free activity. The Board of Enquiry could not say for certain that the fuel-inerting system could have prevented the crash. The foam was only one of a range of defensive aids, including flight deck armour, night flying and other force protection measures on the ground. She added that it was now being fitted as a 'matter of urgency' but was unable to confirm either the number of aircraft that would be fitted, or the timescale. 'It will depend on operations, that will be the only delaying factor now.'
