Mr. Montaģue(by Private Notice) asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he can give the House any information concerning the regrettable series of fatalities occurring on Saturday, 29th May, in connection with the observance of Empire Air Day by the Royal Air Force; and whether he will consider the desirability of confining to the legitimate practices of the Service air exercises involving serious risk.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Air (Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead)I must begin by expressing the deep sympathy of my Noble Friend and the Air Council with the relatives of the officers and airmen who have lost their lives in the course of their duty in the accidents to which the hon. Member refers. I appreciate that the House would wish to have full information, and I should certainly wish to give a full reply, but I am sure the hon. Member and the House will agree that I ought not to make a considered statement until the usual courts of inquiry have been held in each case, and the findings of the courts have been examined by the Air Ministry.
Mr. MontaģueHas the Under-Secretary seen the statement made by a prominent air authority in the "Daily Telegraph," to the effect that at the Hendon Air Display special training is given to pilots, and it is suggested that that training was withheld in connection with the recent Empire Air Day display?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadI have not seen that statement.
§ Captain Harold BalfourWhen the statement is eventually made in regard to the findings of the courts of inquiry, can the Under-Secretary say whether it will include information as to whether the minimum height regulation below 679 which aerobatics are not allowed to take place was in any way modified or suspended during the Empire Day Air display?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadI cannot enter into details of that nature on this occasion.
§ Captain BalfourI was not asking for details. I was only asking whether the Under-Secretary can give an assurance that that will be one of the factors upon which the House will have information when the courts of inquiry findings are summarised?
§ Lieut-Colonel MuirheadThe courts of inquiry may be trusted to have all relevant matters under their consideration.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsIs the Under-Secreary aware that three civilians were killed at a display at Doncaster this week-end, and can he say whether the Government have any expression of sympathy towards them, and whether a similar inquiry will be conducted into an affair where civilians were killed, as well as into an affair where members of the Air Force were killed?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadThe hon. Member will realise that that is the subject of a separate question.
Mr. DavidsonHave we the assurance of the Under-Secretary that the courts of inquiry will be hastened by his Department, and that a full report will be submitted to the House?
Lieut.-Colonel MurheadThe House and the country as a whole have had full experience of the way that these courts of inquiry conduct their investigations. No particular exception need be made in this case.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsIn view of the reply that the Under-Secretary gave, can he say whether it has been settled that an inquiry will be conducted into the fatalities at Doncaster?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadThe hon. Member's question deals with a quite specific point, which is different from the other question, and I simply ask him to put down a particular question on this matter.
Mr. MontaģueWill the Under-Secretary give an assurance that, pending the findings of the Courts of Inquiry, no public entertainment involving aerobatics of that kind will take place with which the Royal Air Force is associated?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadI should not like to give that assurance, but perhaps the hon. Member will put down the question. It is only fair to say that the evolutions practised at these entertainments form part and parcel of the ordinary training curriculum of the Royal Air Force.
§ Sir Archibald SinclairWhile it is true that we have experience of courts of inquiry, we know that sometimes they do not happen to deal with the points in which we are interested. Will the Under-Secretary, therefore, give us an assurance that the point raised by the hon. and gallant Member for the Isle of Thanet (Captain Balfour) and other hon. Members will be brought to the attention of the Courts of Inquiry, so that we may be sure that the inquiry and the report will cover these points?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadI think the Courts of Inquiry in this case may be trusted, as such courts have been trusted in the past, to consider all the relevant points bearing upon this particular matter.
§ Mr. Lyons(by Private Notice) asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he can make any statement with reference to the accident in mid-air, near Odiham, Hants, on the 28th instant, in which Aircraftman George Hall, of Leicester, and Aircraftman F. Hicks, of Sunbury-on-Thames,. were killed?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadI am sorry that I have little information at present to supplement what has already appeared in the public Press in regard to this regrettable accident; a full investigation will, of course, take place. I am sure that the House will wish me to express their heartfelt condolence with the relatives of the airmen who lost their lives.
§ Mr. LyonsCan the Under-Secretary assure the House that a court of inquiry will sit on this matter as on the other matter to which he has referred?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadCertainly. I have said that a full investigation will take place.
§ Mr. ThorneHas the Under-Secretary's Department to wait till they get information from the Press, without in any way getting information from the officials concerned?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadNo; the hon. Member is not justified in drawing that conclusion.