Bob Ainsworth, the new defence secretary, told MPs and the families of 14 men killed in an RAF Nimrod spy plane that the aircraft had been made safe despite being warned it was impossible to be sure this was true.
Ainsworth repeatedly said defence consultants QinetiQ agreed the aircraft was safe to fly, despite the company warning that "no statement can, or has been made" to this effect.
An RAF Nimrod exploded over Afghanistan in September 2006 with the loss of all 14 men on board.
An RAF board of inquiry and an inquest into the men's deaths found that fuel leaking onto the aircraft's hot air system caught fire leading to the explosion.
Coroner Andrew Walker ruled in May last year that the flawed