Army officer killed by reversing Warrior with faulty alarm

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 26 Oct, 17:38 · Archive

Second Lieutenant Max George, 26, died when a Warrior armoured vehicle reversed into him during a training exercise on Salisbury Plain in June 2022.

Second Lieutenant Max George, 26, of Durham, died when struck by a Warrior armoured vehicle during Exercise Combat Spirit, a training exercise on Salisbury Plain on 21 June 2022. The inquest heard that Lt George had exited the vehicle through the rear door when the vehicle reversed into him. He died instantly at the scene.

The vehicle's rear-door alarm, designed to alert the driver when the Warrior's rear doors were open, had been faulty since 2018. Lieutenant Colonel Graham Watson, who led a service inquiry into the incident, told the inquest that the alarm's cable had snapped. He said that if the alarm had functioned, "the driver would have almost certainly stopped". An indicator light on the driver's instrument panel that should have illuminated when the rear doors were open also failed to work due to damaged wiring.

The service inquiry found that the vehicle commander ordered the Warrior to reverse at speed, unaware that Lt George was still behind it. Col Watson noted that the Warrior was not ordinarily used for disembarking troops, and the crew and service personnel were not familiar with the vehicle. He said that providing the wrong type of vehicle "should have triggered additional control measures to be put in place to ensure the risk was as low as reasonably practicable". The alarm system had been fitted following two fatal accidents involving the Warrior in the 1990s.

How it is being reported

• Army officer killed by reversing Warrior with faulty alarm - inquestSecond Lt Max George, 26, died during a training exercise on Salisbury Plain, an inquest is told.BBC Wiltshire · 26 Oct, 16:55
• Army officer ‘loved by everyone’ died after being struck by Warrior vehicleLieutenant Max George, 26, died after being struck by a Warrior vehicle during a training exercise on Salisbury Plain in June 2022.Salisbury Journal · 26 Oct, 15:31

In this story: Second Lieutenant Max George · Lieutenant Colonel Graham Watson · Salisbury Plain · 5 Rifles · Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court

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