§ 39. Mr. Rankinasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will hold a full technical investigation into the cause of the aircraft crash at Stockport instead of a public inquiry.
§ Mr. JayA public inquiry has already been directed, in accordance with Regulation 9 of the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, 1951. The Chief Inspector of Accidents has a duty under these Regulations to render assistance to the inquiry, and I am sure, therefore, that there will be a full technical investigation.
§ Mr. RankinWould my right hon. Friend agree that when inquiries are necessary in future it would be better to 2129 hold full technical investigations—attended by experts who have no set interest ether than that of finding out the cause of the accident—instead of public inquiries, where the legal experts tend to defend interests instead of finding out causes?
§ Mr. JayI believe that it was necessary in this case, in view of the magnitude of this accident, to have a full public inquiry. However, I have no doubt that all the necessary technical investigation will be made and that this evidence will be avaliable at the inquiry.
§ Mr. CarrWill the right hon. Gentleman recognise that there is, nevertheless, genuine concern about whether the present method of inquiry is the most suitable? Will he please undertake to look into the matter for the future?
§ Mr. JayI will certainly do that, but from the information available to me—which I have examined again in the last few days—I would not at present like to suggest that these inquiries are, in my view, in any way inadequate.