HC Deb 08 April 1974 vol 872 cc10-1
12. Mr. Whitehead

asked the Secretary of State for Trade when he expects to receive the report of the inquiry into the recent crash of the Turkish Airlines DC10 near Paris.

Mr. Shore

The French authorities investigating the accident have indicated that they expect to produce the report within about 10 to 12 months from now.

Mr. Whitehead

Since it will be some time before the report is published, may I ask my right hon. Friend to consider—in view of the alarming news coming out of Washington about the links between an aircraft manufacturer and appointees of the Nixon Government—the setting up of a Select Committee of this House to examine the whole question of airworthiness certification and safety procedures for foreign aircraft?

Mr. Shore

I will give thought to that suggestion. I put to my hon. Friend the point that the major sources of information on this must reside in the country where the original accident took place and with the manufacturers. I believe that we shall probably get all the information we need, not only from the reports of the Federal Aviation Authority and other authorities in the United States but also as a result of the special hearings now taking place.

Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop

Since the action taken prior to the accident by the Federal Aviation Agency was advisory rather than mandatory, can the right hon. Gentleman tell us whether the Civil Aviation Authority in Britain has taken any mandatory action in the interim period until the full report of the accident inquiry is available?

Mr. Shore

My information is that the CAA insisted, at a time when the FAA was still making a voluntary recommendation that the DCl0s bought by the one firm in Britain which possesses them should have embodied within the doors all the changes advised by the FAA.