HC Deb 23 October 1967 vol 751 cc1351-5
Mr. Rankin

(by Private Notice) asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the disaster which occurred on Thursday, 12th October, to the Comet 4 airliner in the Mediterranean off the Turkish coast.

The President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Anthony Crosland)

As the House knows, a Comet aircraft belonging to British European Airways met disaster early on the morning of 12th October during a flight from Athens to Nicosia.

The aircraft, which was carrying a crew of seven and 59 passengers, is believed to have been flying at a height of about 29,000 feet in clear weather and was about 100 miles east of Rhodes when the accident occurred.

The accident is being investigated by my Accidents Investigation Branch and a team of investigators was at once sent to the area when the news of the accident was received. The investigation is continuing.

So far, the bodies of 51 of the victims have been recovered. The House will, I know, wish to join me in expressing sympathy with the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives in this tragic disaster.

The House will also join me in expressing gratitude to the crews of the ships and aircraft of various nationalities who joined in the search operation.

Hon. Members

Hear, hear.

Mr. Rankin

I am sure that Members on both sides will endorse the note of sympathy which my right hon. Friend has struck. Can he say whether or not at points in its flight this aircraft was flying at a height of 40,000 feet? Secondly, is it the case that today all Comet aircraft have been grounded, and that that decision was due to the discovery of a flaw in the shell of this aircraft?

Why, in the interests of public safety, did my right hon. Friend not right away demand the grounding of all these aircraft after the disaster?

Mr. Crosland

No. With respect to my hon. Friend he is not correctly informed. The aircraft have not been grounded—for this reason, that we know insufficient about the cause of the accident to justify their grounding; and the safety record of the Comet 4, which is good. For that reason the Air Registration Board, which advises me in matters of airworthiness, has closely considered the question of grounding, but has found no reason for grounding the Comet 4B and I do not see any reason to disagree with the Board.

If any major defect were to be discovered during the investigation I would not hesitate, if I were so advised, to ground the aircraft while the defect was remedied.

Mr. van Straubenzee

Is it not very important for the standing of the Comet for the right hon. Gentleman to make it quite clear that, however unintentionally, his hon. Friend may have given a very unhappy impression because of the very recent accident concerning this very remarkable plane? Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm also that the pilot of that plane, who was a constituent of mine, was one of the most experienced of the fleet, and that there is no reason whatever why any further potential passengers should, at any rate so far as is known at present, have cause for anxiety in using either B.E.A. or this type of plane?

Mr. Crosland

I am much obliged to the hon. Gentleman. I confirm what he said about the pilot, and I also confirm the fact that, as I have said, there is no reason to suppose that the Comet 4 is a dangerous plane; on the contrary, the safety record of the plane is excellent, and I fully confirm what the hon. Gentleman has said.

Mr. R. Carr

While welcoming what the right hon. Gentleman has said about the Comet 4, which I think extremely important, may I ask, can he, in view of the suggestions which have been made, undertake to inform the House, and, therefore, the public, immediately if and when any real clue is obtained as to the cause of this disaster?

Mr. Crosland

Certainly. In any case, the report of the investigation made to me will automatically be made available to the House, and if, before the investigation is complete, any significant clue were to come to light, I would certainly let the House know.

Mr. Raphael Tuck

Does my right hon. Friend know, and, if not, will he inquire, whether any notable person was due to travel on this plane—I refer to the possibility of sabotage—and whether his flight was either put forward or back so that he travelled on a different plane?

Mr. Crosland

There is no present information to suggest that any sabotage occurred, but, of course, it is one possible aspect of the investigation, which we are, naturally, pursuing.

Mr. Fortescue

Would the right hon. Gentleman tell the House what effect this disaster is likely to have on the programme of 50 maritime Comets, known as Nimrods, I believe, which have been ordered by the Ministry of Defence?

Mr. Crosland

I would not like to answer that without notice, but, so far as I know, no effect at all.

Mr. Manuel

Could my right hon. Friend tell the House the actual cause of the Comets now being grounded—

Hon. Members

No.

Mr. Crosland

There seems to be a total misapprehension about this. No Comets have been grounded at all. Therefore, the question does not arise.

Mr. Manuel

They have not been grounded?

Hon. Members

No.

Mr. Crouch

May I draw the attention of the President of the Board of Trade to the fact that when there were two other accidents to Comets nine or 10 years ago extensive examination and exploration was made into the cause of those accidents? Is he considering making such an extensive examination and investigation now with the use of the bathyscaphe submarine to obtain the parts of this machine which has crashed, so that evidence may come to light as to the cause of this accident, and also as to future aircraft construction?

Mr. Crosland

I must emphasise that the accidents to which the hon. Member referred, the accidents of nine years ago, were to Comet 1. Comet 4 is virtually a different aircraft from Comet 1.

As to the question of these salvage operations, I am considering their feasibility now. We have had discussions with the Ministry of Defence and with the American authorities, but I cannot disguise from the House that there are very serious practical difficulties of the depth of the sea bed, which may rule them out, and of the nature of the sea bed, and, of course, the difficulty of locating the instruments we are looking for.

Certainly, I have not closed my mind to undertaking this, and if it gives any reasonable chance of success at all I shall not hesitate to order it.

Several Hon. Members rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order.

Mr. Rankin

On a point of order. My right hon. Friend must realise that the statement I made was not a careless statement. We had that official information this morning. At Abbotsinch Airport—

Mr. Speaker

Order. With respect to the hon. Member, that is not a point of order at all; it is a point of argument.

Mr. Crosland

May I answer that question, because a very important point of public interest is involved. I must reiterate that no Comets have been grounded as a result of this crash. My hon. Friend may be referring to a totally different fact, which is that two Comets have suffered from engines which have overheated, but has nothing to do with the Comet whatsoever, and, indeed, is something, which, as he, with his experience, must know, is liable to happen to the engine of any aircraft at any time. These two questions are totally unconnected with each other.