'Traumatic' tape of doomed Nimrod's last seconds

THE brother of a British airman, one of 14 servicemen killed when a Nimrod spy plane crashed, yesterday described hearing a recording of his last moments as "very traumatic".

The families of those who died when the aircraft exploded in mid-air heard for the first time yesterday a tape of the radio communications during the flight.

The cockpit recording was played at Oxford Coroner's Court, where an inquest into the men's deaths is being held.

Michael Bell, brother of Flight Sergeant Gerard Bell, said outside court: "It was a very traumatic hearing."

Fighting back tears, he added: "They were professional and did not show any emotion. They did their job in the way you would expect British servicemen to. There was no panic in their voices.

"In their minds, they were going to land at Kandahar, then the tape went blank."

The court was cleared so the families could hear the recording from Nimrod XV 230 in private. The 37-year-old reconnaissance aircraft, based at RAF Kinloss, exploded just minutes after air-to-air refuelling near Kandahar on 2 September, 2006.

The inquest was adjourned until today.