Army officer 'killed by reversing armoured vehicle' in training exercise horror

Army officer 'killed by reversing armoured vehicle' in training exercise horror Second Lieutenant Max George, from County Durham, was part of 5 Rifles when he was killed during a training exercise at Salisbury Plain An Army officer was tragically struck and killed by a reversing armoured vehicle which had a faulty safety alarm, an inquest has heard. Second Lieutenant Max George, 26, died instantly when the collision happened on Salisbury Plain during a training exercise in June 2022. Lt George was exiting the armoured vehicle, which had an alarm that should have alerted the driver when the Warrior's rear doors were open, Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court heard. Lt George, who was from County Durham, was fatally injured when the Warrior's commander gave the order to reverse at speed without realising the 26-year-old was still behind the vehicle. The alarm had been broken since 2018, the inquest heard. The accident happened as members of 5 Rifles were taking part in Exercise Combat Spirit. Lieutenant Colonel Graham Watson, who led a service inquiry into the incident, said alarms were installed after two fatal incidents in the 1990s. He said several faults with the Warrior were known about but none meant the vehicle should have been taken out of service. He said: "One was the rear door alarm cable had snapped, which was first identified on June 20, 2018. "The second one was the rear door locking plunger would not release and is stuck, which meant that the rear doors could not be locked in position. The third fault was the repetition of the first fault that the rear door alarm cable was snapped and required renewing or repairing. "Those matters were 'fully fit' faults, which at the time of the accident was not incorrect." Lt George was ordered to take command on the ground as two groups of soldiers were converging on a target, the inquest heard. 'He was seen momentarily struggling' As the Warrior halted, the gunner threw a smoke grenade and Lt George was ordered to exit. Col Watson said: "Lt George exited the vehicle and was seen momentarily struggling either with a day sack or trying to free a radio antenna which may have snagged. "He then went to grab his weapon which was still inside the vehicle and simultaneously the student commander commanded the gunner to reverse the turret to the right in the direction of the enemy. The student commander checked through the periscopes and could no longer see the open doors, or Lt George at the rear of the vehicle. "Believing Lt George was clear the student commander commanded the driver to reverse. Lt George was still at the rear reaching for his weapon. He was knocked to the ground." Between 38 and 42 seconds elapsed between the Warrior stopping and the collision, the colonel added. He said: "There were several attempts by those who witnessed the accident to warn of the impending danger, people shouted, waved their hands, sounded their horn, unfortunately to no avail." When he exited the Warrior, Lt George made a "clunking noise", which the court heard may have led the commander to believe he was clear and had shut the doors. Col Watson said: "This was part of his reasoning to why he gave the command for the vehicle to reverse after he waited a few seconds after hearing the clunk and not seeing anything at the rear. "The built in alarm would have alarmed because the rear doors were open, and had that gone off the driver would have almost certainly stopped. In addition on the driver’s instrument panel, because the rear doors were open there should have been a light, but again because the wiring loop was damaged that didn’t light up." The inquest heard the exercise was using two types of Warrior – the FV-510 and FV-511 models – and Lt George’s vehicle was not ordinarily used for disembarking troops and close combat. Col Watson told the court: "The student commander had done the majority of his training on the FV-510, which is the platoon variant of the vehicle. "In general, the crew and service personnel within 5 Rifles were not that familiar with the FV-511 and its differences with the FV-510. The training objectives could still be met but by providing the wrong type of vehicles, that should have triggered additional control measures to be put in place to ensure the risk was as low as reasonably practicable." 'A flaw and a safety case' Col Watson said the service inquiry found two causal factors, 22 contributory factors and 22 other factors in Lt George’s death. He said: "The fact a rear door safety alarm had been fitted to rectify issues discovered in 1998 and 1999 was right and proper, but the fact there was not a maintenance regime that ensured that alarm worked was a flaw and a safety case. "It was not a high priority. It was not a conscious decision to make it a 'fully fit' fault. I personally believe it was an oversight not to make it a limited role or a not task worthy role. It was a flawed safety case." Lt George's mother, Vivienne, wrote a pen portrait for her son, which was read during the hearing. She described the 26-year-old as "modest and great fun" and revealed he had won the Queen's Medal for best cadet when he passed out from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, BBC reports. He was awarded a first in politics with Russian at Newcastle University and obtained a Distinction in his Masters in Eastern European and Eurasian Studies with Russian at the University of Glasgow. His mother said: "Max had effortless leadership qualities and his potential was enormous. His loss has left a hole in our lives, he was the very best of all of us." The inquest continues.