An inquest is to resume into the deaths of 10 servicemen from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire when their Hercules aircraft crashed in Iraq.

Small arms fire pierced one of the C130K aircraft's fuel tanks, which exploded blowing off a wing, killing nine RAF servicemen and a soldier on January 30 2005.

Earlier this year, the inquest heard how the plane was not fitted with explosion-suppressant foam (ESF), which prevents fuel tanks exploding if they are hit.

American Hercules planes have had ESF since the 1960s and Australian Hercules also have it.

After the tragedy the Ministry of Defence pledged to retrospectively fit all RAF Hercules with ESF – at a cost of up to £600,000 per plane. In April this year, between 20 and 30 of the UK's 44 Hercules had been fitted, the MoD said.

The inquest, having sat for three weeks, was adjourned at the end of April after it overran the time period initially allotted.

Wiltshire coroner David Masters will resume proceedings at Trowbridge town hall.

The victims were: RAF 47 Squadron's Flt Lt David Stead, the pilot, 35; Flt Lt Andrew Smith, 25, the co-pilot; Master Engineer Gary Nicholson, 42; Flt Sgt Mark Gibson, 34, Australian airman Flt Lt Paul Pardoel, 35 a navigator; and from Lyneham's Engineering Wing, Chief Technician Richard Brown, 40, an avionics specialist; Sergeant Robert O'Connor, 38, an engineering technician; and Corporal David Williams, 37, a survival equipment fitter, a passenger. Acting L/Cpl Steven Jones, 25, of Fareham, Hampshire, a Royal Signals soldier, was also part of the crew.

Sqn Ldr Patrick Marshall, 39, from Strike Command Headquarters, RAF High Wycombe, was another passenger on the Hercules.