Air hero's dad and MP call for Nimrod replacements (From Bridgwater Mercury)
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Air hero's dad and MP call for Nimrod replacements
1:36pm Monday 30th July 2007 in News By Dan Sales
Sgt Ben Knight was killed last year.
A PLANE fleet in which a Bridgwater man was killed is too old and needs to be replaced as soon as possible.
That is the view of town MP and army major Ian Liddell-Grainger and the father of the man who lost his son when his Nimrod aircraft crashed in Kandahar on September 2 last year.
This week Mr Liddell-Grainger revealed to the Mercury he is "extremely worried" about the Nimrod's age and called for its replacement - the MRA4 - to be introduced quicker.
It is a sentiment echoed by grieving father Graham Knight and it was Sgt Ben Knight's tragic death that spurred Conservative Mr Liddell-Grainger into further investigations and a visit to RAF Kinloss, where the planes are based.
But the MOD has robustly defended the aircraft, stating: "The Nimrod airframe has a good safety record and remains a potent and respected aircraft."
For the full version of this story pick up your Mercury on Tuesday (July 31).
