§ 68. Lady Apsleyasked the Secretary of State for Air whether, in view of the harmful effects of the German radio version of the attack on the unarmed Lisbon civil transport aeroplane, suggesting that the machine was to all intents and purposes a Douglas fighting machine and that the crew baled out, leaving the passengers to their fate, he proposes to deal with these allegations and make a full statement on the matter?
§ Captain BalfourThe statements made by the German radio were, as usual, completely untrue. As my right hon. Friend 852 stated in the House yesterday, the aircraft plainly bore international civil aviation markings. The registration letters were, in fact, two feet high. The aircraft was, therefore, readily distinguishable from a military aircraft, apart from other differences. For technical reasons concerned with exits, the allegation that the crew abandoned the aircraft, leaving the passengers to their fate, is just a despicable lie.