WA: Navy deceived board of inquiry, Westralia inquest told

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WA: Navy deceived board of inquiry, Westralia inquest told

By Liza Kappelle

PERTH, April 29 AAP - A sailor who escaped from an engine room inferno which killedfour of his shipmates on HMAS Westralia five years ago, fought back tears today as hetold an inquest he wanted to forget the fatal fireball.

And a Navy mechanical engineer assured West Australian Coroner Alastair Hope that a1998 naval board of inquiry (BOI) had found the most likely cause of the accident - bursthoses spraying fuel onto hot engine parts.

Mr Hope is examining the four deaths of May 5, 1998, in one of Australia's worst peacetimenaval disasters.

The sailors who perished were Petty Officer Shaun Smith, 29, from Perth, Leading SeamanBradley Meek, 25, of Sydney, Midshipman Megan Pelly, 22, of Dalby in Queensland, and AbleSeaman Phillip Carroll, 23, of Melbourne.

The families of the four have claimed the Navy is covering up the real cause of the fire.

Former Petty Officer Max Francis fought tears today as he repeatedly said he did notrecall seeing a diesel fuel mist over a particular engine cylinder, near where Shaun Smithwas working.

The presence, or not, of this fuel mist, is of key importance to the inquest, becauseit could point to a new cause of the fatal blaze.

"Sir, my whole attention was on the fire, and I can't recall seeing a mist," Mr Francis said.

"I've spent five years trying to forget that bloody ship."

Mr Francis escaped with just singed hair when a pocket of either fuel vapour or tinydiesel droplets ignited, causing such thick smoke he could not see his hands.

The 1998 Navy BOI found the fire erupted after newly-installed flexible fuel hosesburst, spraying diesel fuel onto hot engine parts.

Defence Science and Technology Organisation mechanical engineer Geoffrey Goodwin toldthe inquest that a new theory that a rigid fuel pipe leak had caused the blaze had notdented his faith in the BOI's conclusion.

"No, it hasn't," Dr Goodwin said.

Doubts about the BOI's conclusions were raised yesterday when the inquest was tolda witness would testify that she was pressured by senior officers into lying to the BOIabout work done in the engine room.

Mr Francis would not tell the coroner if he had been pressured into withholding informationfrom the BOI.

The Navy has launched a probe into the allegations.

The inquest continues.

AAP lk/sd/pw/sp

KEYWORD: WESTRALIA NIGHTLEAD