§ 42. Air-Commodore Harveyasked the Secretary of State for Air how many accidents to Royal Air Force aircraft have taken place since 1st January, 1949; how much loss of life was involved; and how do these figures compare with those in 1948.
§ Mr. A. HendersonBetween 1st January and 19th February, 1949, there were 23 accidents to Royal Air Force aircraft in which lives were lost. The total number of deaths was 53. The figures for the same period in 1948 were 17 and 31, respectively.
§ Air-Commodore HarveyDoes the right hon. and learned-Gentleman say that the maintenance side of the Royal Air Force and the training are responsible for this?
§ Mr. HendersonNo, Sir, I do not think that we can draw any such inference from these statistics, and I may say that the figures in relation to three months of this year have to have regard to our increased commitments necessitated by the Berlin air lift.