§ Mr. Beswick(by Private Notice) asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he has any statement to make about the aircraft crash at Ringway Airport.
§ The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (Mr. Harold Watkinson)Yes, Sir. I regret to inform the House that just before 2 p.m. yesterday a Viscount aircraft of British European Airways, operating on a scheduled service from Amsterdam to Manchester, crashed when about to land at Ringway Airport. Fifteen passengers on board and the crew of 5 lost their lives.
In its descent the aircraft destroyed two houses and damaged several others and two people in one house were killed.
I have decided that there shall be a public inquiry into this accident.
I am sure that the House will wish to join with me in expressing deep sympathy with those who have been bereaved or have suffered as a result of this accident.
§ Mr. BeswickI am sure that speculation about the cause of the accident is completely out of place until there has been an inquiry, but I should like to take this opportunity of associating my right hon. and hon. Friends and myself with the sympathy which the Minister has offered to those who have suffered.
May I ask the right hon. Gentleman, however, whether he does not agree that, whatever may be the cause of this particular accident, most people will place it against the background of the safe and accident-free record of the Viscount, which has made it one of the most safe vehicles for passenger carrying of any vehicle on land or in the air?
May I ask, further, whether he is aware that this accident, following the 1458 Beverley accident, has naturally aroused a certain amount of anxiety among residents around airports? Has he any special action in mind, or does he propose especially to inquire whether anything can be done to allay the probably unnecessary anxiety that there is?
§ Mr. WatkinsonMr. Speaker, I am sure that the hon. Member is quite right in saying that it would be most unwise for me to comment on the possible causes of this accident until we have had the very searching public inquiry which will be held.
I should like to join with the hon. Member in saying that this is the first accident to a Viscount aircraft which was flying on passenger service; and when we all remember the vast mileage which these aircraft have now completed, it is a very fine record indeed.
As to the hon. Member's last point, with which I have great sympathy, my Department is now examining this general problem. I do not think that I should comment further on it until we have had a chance to look at the problem in rather more detail.
I would say only this. In this very crowded island, I am afraid that wherever an aircraft may crash there will inevitably be a slight risk that it might fall on a house or a building. I am not prepared to say, at the moment, that that risk is greatly increased if one chooses houses or buildings adjacent to an airport, as compared with buildings almost anywhere in this country. There is a slight risk, I am afraid, everywhere, because we are so heavily built up, and I do not think that the risk is immensely greater if the house is immediately adjacent to a major airport. But it is an important matter, and my Department is giving it most careful study.
§ Mr. RankinWhile associating myself with all that has been said by my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Beswick), may I ask, as one who has flown in Viscounts regularly for a long while between my constituency and the House, and who has great confidence not only in the crews but in the machines, whether the Minister does not realise that, once again, we are faced with the problem of fuel? We imagined that kerosene, with its lower flash point, was much safer than petrol, but, here again, 1459 fire broke out. Will he again consider whether we cannot get a fuel which is non-inflammable?
§ Mr. WatkinsonI will certainly take note of what the hon. Member has said.