'Hostile fire' downed plane
2005-12-08 15:52
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London - A British Hercules transport plane that crashed in Iraq on January 30, was brought down by "hostile ground-to-air fire".
Ten service personnel died in the crash.
British defence secretary John Reid reported the results of an inquiry into the crash to the British parliament on Thursday.
Reid said: "The aircraft crashed because it became uncontrollable after hostile ground-to-air fire caused the outboard right-hand wing to explode and separate from the aircraft".
The crash was the single biggest loss of life for British forces in Iraq since the March 2003 United States-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
- AFP