Beleaguered Nimrod keeps crews' trust

Britain's most controversial spy-plane stands shimmering in the fierce afternoon heat at its base in the Middle East, at a location we have been asked not to disclose for security reasons.

We were taken there by the head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, for an exclusive look at the Nimrod MR2 and to talk to its air and ground crews about how they feel flying an aircraft whose safety has been fiercely debated.

At an inquest this year into the deaths of 14 servicemen in a mid-air explosion over Afghanistan in 2006, coroner Andrew Walker called for the Nimrod fleet to be grounded, citing fuel leaks and a fatal design flaw that positioned hot air pipes next to fuel feed pipes.

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