Royal Air Force fools put anti-freeze in fighters’ fuel

BUNGLING RAF ground crew were facing a rocket last night after contaminating £1.5MILLION of aviation fuel used by warplanes with anti-freeze.

They were meant to treat the 2½million litres with a special chemical to combat sub-zero temperatures.

But instead they used heavy duty anti-freeze meant to de-ice the tarmac at their Falkland Islands base.

Sources said the storage tank blunder meant at least two helicopters had to have their engines stripped and replaced after filling up at the RAF Mount Pleasant base.

And two £125million Typhoon fighters had their tanks drained and checked to ensure they had not suffered damage.

A source revealed: "It was a very simple error, but could potentially have been very serious. You can rest assured that someone's had a serious kicking over it."

Ministry of Defence officials last night confirmed the blunder. But they stressed the security of the isolated South Atlantic islands — snatched back from Argentinian invaders in 1982 — was not compromised because alternative fuel sources were available.

A probe into the cock-up was underway last night at the windblown base, about 30 miles from the Falklands capital, Port Stanley.

Technicians were also trying to treat the tainted fuel so it could to be used, possibly for ground vehicles.

http://www.thesun.co.uk