HC Deb 20 January 1954 vol 522 cc1009-13
Mr. Lennox-Boyd

With your permission, Sir, and with that of the House, I will make a statement about the recent Comet accident.

As the House will know, a Comet airliner of B.O.A.C. on scheduled flight from Singapore to London, crashed into the sea to the South of Elba on 10th January. Of the 29 passengers and crew of six all lost their lives. The Italian authorities promptly organised search and rescue operations and 15 bodies have been recovered, together with small portions of wreckage.

On the following day the chairman of B.O.A.C. informed me that the Corporation had decided to suspend their normal Comet passenger services for the purpose of carrying out a detailed examination of the aircraft of the Comet operational fleet, in collaboration with expert representatives of the Air Registration Board and the manufacturers. Subsequently, experts from the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough were also associated with the investigation. I fully concurred with these arrangements and arranged for the appropriate authorities in France and Canada to be informed. The French airlines, Air France and the Union Aero-maritime de Transport, which operate the Comet, likewise withdrew their aircraft from passenger services, but the Royal Canadian Air Force, not being engaged in public transport service, did not consider it necessary to do so. The detailed examination of four of the B.O.A.C. aircraft has already been completed but nothing has yet emerged from this examination to throw any light on the cause of the accident.

Immediately following the accident the Italian authorities appointed a Commission of Inquiry with which Mr. Nelson, the representative of my Chief Inspector of Accidents, was associated. The preliminary investigation established that the accident took place outside Italian territory. The Italian Government therefore handed over to Her Majesty's Government the subsequent conduct of the investigation and I have announced that there will be a public inquiry. The Italian Government have kindly consented to appoint two accredited representatives to assist with the investigation. My right hon. Friend the First Lord of the Admiralty has made available units of the Mediterranean Fleet for the search and, we hope, the salvage of the wreckage of the aircraft.

I myself attended the moving and dignified funeral and memorial services in Elba and thanked in person the Minister of Defence, the Italian Navy and all concerned for their invaluable assistance and co-operation. I saw at first hand the widespread sorrow of all Italians on the mainland and in Elba; and I am sure that this House will join with me in thanking them and in expressing our deepest sympathy with the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives.

Mr. Beswick

I am sure all my right hon. and hon. Friends would wish to associate themselves with the message of sympathy the Minister offered to the bereaved in this tragedy. I think also they would wish to express their appreciation of the resolute way in which the Corporation, led by its Chairman, met this severe—although, we hope, temporary—setback. In particular, we appreciate the courage of the Corporation in deciding to ground these aircraft pending an examination, even though such a decision was liable to misinterpretation.

May I ask the Minister if he is aware that the accepted practice hitherto has been not to give any details of air accidents until such time as the proper inquiry has taken place? Will he agree that one statement of his, as reported in today's Press, that bits of metal recovered have been found to be coroded may lead to an entirely false impression and that it may even be assumed that the Corporation were permitting aircraft to go into operation although metal was coroded? Would he take the opportunity of correcting that impression and also similar speculation that the possibility of metal fatigue was a contributory cause of this accident?

Finally, may I ask the Minister if he will agree that the best service we could now all render in this matter is to allow the great concentration of brains and effort directed to the Inquiry to carry on with that Inquiry and do our best to damp down speculation until such time as the evidence has been properly sifted?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

I thank the hon. Member for the various comments he has made. In particular, I agree that the Corporation behaved with promptitude and good sense in the difficult decision at which they arrived. As to anything I have said, I have been at pains to limit myself that I have seen reports of this and that, but I have drawn no conclusion from those reports, and from start to finish I have said that we ought to await the detailed and technical examinations, that we ought to attach as much importance to one possibility as to another and not rule out any particular conclusion. I agree with the hon. Member wholeheartedly that the best thing now is to await the detailed expert examination and to hope that out of this may emerge conclusions which will make flying safer than it is today.

Mr. Gough

May I ask my right hon. Friend a few questions? First, may I ask if a special message of sympathy could be sent to the Government of Bahrein, with which we are in treaty relations, and which suffered very grievously in this accident? Secondly, may I ask whether representations could be made to the B.B.C. that notification of such an accident should be withheld until the details are known as I understand that the first notification was just that a Comet had exploded in the sky and thereby a great deal of anxiety was caused to people whose relatives were in other Comets at the same time?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

In regard to the first suggestion, I know that the Government and people of Bahrein know of our sympathy and I will discuss the suggestion with the Foreign Secretary. There was a service according to their own religious rites at sea two days ago and I saw it. In regard to the second suggestion, it would of course be quite out of the question to withhold any announcement of a disaster of this kind. To the best of my recollection very quickly after statements were made, the exact identity of the aircraft was published as well.

Mr. Willey

Whilst fully supporting the Minister in all the steps he has taken, in view of the serious consequences of the grounding of the Comets, will he expedite all the inquiries so that this decision can be reviewed as soon as possible?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

I must again make it plain that I have not grounded the Comets by Ministerial action, which involves the withdrawal of a certificate of airworthiness, but that the Corporation as a matter of prudence, has temporarily suspended them from service. After "a minute and unhurried examination"—to use the words of the Chairman—they will let me know what their conclusions are, based on the examination of the aircraft in their hands. It will then be for me to make up my mind what recommendation I shall make to the Corporation. Even though I did not ground them, most clearly the Minister must have considerable responsibility in the re-starting of the service. There can be no question of this matter not being faced long before the report of the tribunal has arrived and I am conscious of the need for as early action as is possible because I know of the value of this service.

Mr. Lewis

Has the attention of the Minister been drawn to the widely circulated Press reports in this country in which he is alleged to have made a statement whilst in Rome that sabotage cannot be ruled out? Can he confirm or deny that report? If, as I hope is the case, he can deny it, we shall be happy, but, if not, can he state whether or not he has any evidence to substantiate that sabotage was responsible?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

The statement was first made by the Chairman of the Corporation and I think he was fully within his rights to say that sabotage could not be ruled out. I took the same view, it could not be ruled out. But he and I believe that no more importance should be attached to this particular aspect than to any other causes as important, but no more important. It would be a great tragedy if we allowed the feeling that perhaps something of this kind was responsible in any way to handicap the vigour with which we pursued other possible causes.