HC Deb 10 May 1950 vol 475 cc371-4
42. Lieut.-Colonel Sir Walter Smiles

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation when the Report on the fatal accident at Ringway Aerodrome, Manchester, which took place last summer, will be published.

Mr. Beswick

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement that I propose to make at the end of Questions.

Later—

Mr. Beswick

The Report of the court investigation into the accident to British European Airways Dakota G-AHCY, which occurred near Ringway, Manchester, last August, is to be published forthwith and copies are now available in the Vote Office.

The main conclusions, from which my noble Friend sees no reason to dissent, are that while it is impossible to establish with certainty the reason for the accident, it was probably due to an error in navigation, incorrect approach procedure and failure to check the position of the aircraft accurately before the descent from a safe height. The court is of the opinion that the accident was not contributed to by any malfunctioning of the Standard Beam Approach installation.

The court has made a number of recommendations, mainly of a technical character, with which I need not trouble the House. It considered that the staff of the ground services acted correctly and could not have taken any action by which the accident could have been avoided. It has, however, expressed the opinion that a Departmental investigation of the organisation of the Ministry's Northern Divisional Headquarters should be undertaken because, prima facie, it appeared to the court that there existed at the Headquarters an undesirable atmosphere of complacency as well as a high degree of decentralisation without adequate supervision from the top.

My noble Friend accordingly ordered such an investigation, which has now been carried out. As a result, he is satisfied that there was no complacency or undue decentralisation in the organisation but that before the court inquiry there had been a certain lack of supervision which had already been corrected by the time of the Departmental inquiry. The arrangements now in force should ensure adequate supervision in future. I should like again to express the sympathy of my noble Friend and myself to all those who were bereaved by this accident.

Sir W. Smiles

Will the Parliamentary Secretary make certain that the reports from the pilots who use Ringway in misty weather are checked, and that any complaints or suggestions made by those pilots are carefully considered?

Mr. Beswick

Yes, Sir. That was gone into by the Departmental investigation. Apparently one reason was that the complaints had been made verbally and not in writing, but in view of the procedure now laid down I am sure they will be carefully considered.

Mr. Eden

Is it not rather disturbing that in regard to these two recent accidents—the one at Prestwick and now this one—the Minister has set up a judicial inquiry, that those inquiries have both used the same phrase about complacency on the aerodrome concerned, and that then the Ministry have their own investigation and virtually say they do not agree with what that judicial inquiry has said?

Mr. Beswick

That is not quite true. I would emphasise that the remarks in the Report—which probably the right hon. Gentleman will eventually read——

Mr. Eden

I have read the hon. Member's answer, which he was courteous enough to send me in advance.

Mr. Beswick

—do not refer to the conclusions. We accept the conclusions, which make it quite plain that the accident was not caused by any failure of duty on the part of the ground staff.

Mr. Eden

May I recall the words which the hon. Gentleman read? They struck me as being exactly the same as the words used in connection with the Prestwick disaster, namely: expressed the opinion that a Departmental investigation of the organisation of the Ministry's Northern Divisional Headquarters should be undertaken because, prima facie, it appeared to the court that there existed at the Headquarters an undesirable atmosphere of complacency. All I am asking the Minister is, whether it is not rather disturbing that we should get exactly the same words in each of these two Reports and then the Ministry say they do not accept the judicial inquiry?

Mr. Beswick

It may in a sense be disturbing; and very careful inquiries were made by my noble Friend. What I wanted to make quite clear is that the alleged complacency did not in any way affect the cause of this accident.

Air-Commodore Harvey

How can the hon. Gentleman be certain that the complacency did not affect the cause of the accident? Will he say why the pilot nearly always gets the blame, even though there is an element of doubt on the ground? Will he give the House an assurance that there were sufficient aids to enable the pilot to make an attempt to land?

Mr. Beswick

The hon. and gallant Member is quite wrong. If I speak here with bias, it is on the side of the pilot, as the hon. and gallant Member knows. It is not the fact that the pilot always gets the blame.

Air-Commodore Harvey

I said "nearly always."

Mr. Beswick

In fact, precisely the reverse was the case in the Prestwick inquiry.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

For the purposes of accuracy in regard to Prestwick, is it not a fact that the report of the judicial inquiry wholly exonerated the pilot but that the Debate in this House and the statements made by the Minister in another place and by the Attorney-General here, by inference blamed the pilot? That was largely the cause of our dissent from the action taken by the Minister. Is not the only difference that in the first case the pilot was not blamed by the court but was blamed by this House and that in this case the court think that the accident may have been due to an error on the part of the pilot, but that in both cases the Ministry were regarded as showing undue complacency?

Mr. Beswick

With respect, I think it would be a mistake to go into the Prestwick inquiry again. Everyone, quite rightly, does not like, in these matters, to emphasise the blame on persons, especially when they have lost their lives. If hon. Members will read the Report they will see that the court, having gone into the matter very carefully, say that the blame apparently was that of the pilot.

Air-Commodore Harvey

Will the hon. Gentleman answer my first question: whether or not the pilot had sufficient aids at Ringway Airport to enable him to attempt a landing?

Mr. Beswick

The pilot had the S.B.A.——

Air-Commodore Harvey

Was that sufficient?

Mr. Beswick

The pilot had the S.B.A., which, as the hon. and gallant Member and I well know, is sufficient to bring down an aircraft in bad weather. He had, in addition, another radio aid with which to establish his position.

Mr. J. Grimston

Will the Parliamentary Secretary say what progress is being made in installing G.C.A. at all aerodromes in this country at which B.E.A. operate?

Mr. Beswick

The agreed policy of the Department is to substitute the I.L.S. system for the S.B.A., but we are now waiting for the British equipment. It is hoped that at Manchester the new I.L.S. system will be installed by the beginning of 1951.

Sir H. Williams

Could the Minister tell us what these initials mean? I do not understand them.