16. Mr. ROBINSONasked the Secretary of State for Air the number of fatal accidents in the Royal Air Force and the number of lives lost since 1st January, 1928, and in each year since the formation of the force; whether safety appliances are fitted to all the planes used in training and on active service; and when it is anticipated that the force will be equipped with all-metal planes?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for AIR (Sir Samuel Hoare)With the hon. Member's permission I will circulate the reply in the OFFICIAL REPORT, as it contains figures in tabulated form.
§ Following is the reply:
§ As regards the first part of the question, figures since the year 1918, which was a war year and is therefore excluded, are as follows:
| Year | Number of Fatal Accidents. | Number of Deaths. | |
| 1919 | … | 138 | 180 |
| 1920 | … | 22 | 37 |
| 1921 | … | 22 | 37 |
| 1922 | … | 32 | 51 |
| 1923 | … | 31 | 46 |
| 1924 | … | 48 | 71 |
| 1925 | … | 41 | 58 |
| 1926 | … | 53 | 85 |
| 1927 | … | 48 | 55 |
| 1928 (to 24th April) | … | 15 | 24 |
§ As regards the second part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the statements regarding parachutes and slot mechanism contained in the White Paper accompanying Air Estimates for this year. As regards the last part, it is expected that at least nine types of all-metal machines will be in service before the end of 1928 and that the whole Air Force will be so equipped within five years. The all-metal machine is not, how- 898 ever, being introduced as a safety measure, but to facilitate the standardisation of aircraft and simplify their production, maintenance and repair.