§ 25. Lieut.-Commander Fletcherasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether it is proposed to give effect to the rider of the jury at the inquest on the victims of the Dutch air-liner crash on 9th December last, recommending that an officially appointed authority at an airport, and not individual pilots, should decide if any aircraft should take off during periods of low visibility?
§ Sir P. SassoonNo, Sir. It is not proposed to interfere with the present well-established practice by which the commander of an aircraft is solely responsible for its movements, subject to the instructions of the company in whose service he is. At all principal airports there are available to him the advice of the aerodrome officer regarding the local traffic situation at the time, and weather reports and forecasts supplied by the Meteorological office of the Air Ministry. A licensed pilot is qualified to assume responsibility for the safety of the passengers and of the aircraft placed in his charge. To delegate any part of the responsibility to other persons would not, I think, be in the interests of the public.