CHRIS BISHOP A crew member who died after falling from a 1,400mph bomber on a test flight over the Norfolk countryside was tonight as Mike Harland.Mr Harland, who was a civilian navigator employed by defence contractor BAE Systems, died on Wednesday afternoon, when a Tornado GR4 jet from RAF Marham was performing an inverted roll.

CHRIS BISHOP

A crew member who died after falling from a 1,400mph bomber on a test flight over the Norfolk countryside was tonight as Mike Harland.

Mr Harland, who was a civilian navigator employed by defence contractor BAE Systems, died on Wednesday afternoon, when a Tornado GR4 jet from RAF Marham was performing an inverted roll. His body was later recovered from a field at South Creake, near Fakenham.

A post mortem was due to be held today and an RAF Board of Inquiry will investigate the incident.

Nigel Whitehead BAE Systems group managing director for military air solutions, said: “It is with great regret and sadness that I can confirm that Mike died in an incident during a test flight of a Tornado aircraft from RAF Marham yesterday.

“Mike worked for BAE Systems for four years and was a well-known and much respected member of the team. He will be deeply missed by all of his colleagues and our thoughts are with his family and friends.

“It would be wrong to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the incident at this time and it would be inappropriate of us to do so at present as there will be an MoD Board of Inquiry. We will give our full support to this Inquiry and we will do everything we can to support Mike's family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.”

Mr Harland, a former RAF Squadron Leader who served in the Gulf War, was in his 40s and came from Lincolnshire.

BAE Systems holds a £130m contract for combined maintenance and upgrade work on the RAF's fleet of Tornado GR4 aircraft.

Police and RAF crash investigators were today still searching the area, as experts began the job of piecing together what caused the incident.

Senior investigating officer Det Supt Julian Gregory said: “We are working closely with colleagues in the RAF to examine all the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.

“We are at the very early stages of this investigation and will not be speculating on the possible causes.” The scene will remain cordoned off to facilitate the recovery of evidence, he added.

The top level investigation will focus on what happened in the seconds running up to accident which took place around 4pm.

The condition of the plane and its ejector seat systems - and how the pilot managed to land the jet safely at its base at RAF Marham shortly after the accident - will also come under scrutiny of air accident investigators and an Ministry of Defence board of inquiry.

A MoD spokesman said the man's body was found by an RAF search and rescue helicopter on an old airfield site near Egmere in north Norfolk about 45 minutes after the roll.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. It was unclear last night whether or not the navigator had a parachute.

But the BBC reported hearing a tape of the controller talking to the pilot, who says he did not see a parachute open.

The MoD spokesman said yesterday that the crew was carrying out a test flight and no other aircraft were involved.

He said: “The cause of the incident is under investigation and we will not speculate at this stage.”

Group Capt Phil Osborn at RAF Marham said: “We at RAF Marham work very closely with BAE Systems in the generation of Tornado aircraft.

“The death of a BAE Systems air crew is a sad loss both to the company and the station.

“Our sincerest condolences go to the family who are in our thoughts and prayers.

“A board of inquiry to investigate the cause of the incident will be convened and the results published in due course.”

South Norfolk MP Christopher Fraser also spoke of his sadness at the loss. He said: “My heartfelt condolences go the family, friends and colleagues of the man who died. This was a tragic accident, and I welcome the assurance from the Ministry of Defence that a Board of Inquiry has been set up to start work immediately to look into the cause.

“Knowing the people involved in the Tornado maintenance contract at RAF Marham, I have confidence that every effort will be made to ensure that such an incident does not happen again. I have been briefed by the MOD and BAe Systems, and have asked to be kept informed of developments.”

Marham is the RAF's largest operational base and is home to four Tornado squadrons. Crews from the base played an important role in both wars in Iraq.

The Tornado GR4, which costs tens of millions of pounds, is the RAF's primary attack aircraft. It has a top speed of more than 1,400mph and is capable of flying at low levels.

According to an RAF Marham website, to eject, a Tornado crew member has to activate the ejection seat by pulling the seat firing handle connected directly to a breech unit under the seat pan.

The ejection seat is mounted on combined guide rails and a telescopic ejection gun unit, which in turn is attached to the aircraft structure.

The ejection happens in just seconds with the crew member propelled from 0-160mph in a quarter of a second.

In October last year an RAF pilot and navigator ejected from their Tornado GR4 shortly before it crashed in to The Wash while on a routine training mission.

In May 2002 two pilots ejected when their plane crashed into the River Humber.