HC Deb 08 February 1988 vol 127 c38 4.28 pm
Mr. Robin Maxwell-Hyslop (Tiverton)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, Issues arising from the statement by the Secretary of State for Transport today about air misses. I could not give you notice, Mr. Speaker, before you took the Chair today, because I did not know what was going to be in the statement.

I regard the serious air miss as an event which would have resulted in a collision had at least one pilot not taken avoiding action without the instructions to do the same from air traffic control. Today the Secretary of State for Transport gave the House only the number of serious air misses without giving the number of passengers exposed to risk in each event. The true measure of danger surely should be a compound of the number of serious air misses, as I define them, coupled with the number of passengers and crew put at risk in each event.

As time passes the size of aircraft is increasing and so is the number of passengers in many cases carried in them, even if the load factor is not. Therefore, it is not adequate to be complacent because the number of events of serious air misses may reduce, if the total number of passengers at risk on the formula which I have described is either static or increasing. It is that which needs to be examined. Had the British Airways pilot not taken avoiding action uninstructed by air traffic control, there would have been the greatest number of passengers killed in British air space ever.

Finally, the Secretary of State did not say that the inquiry has power to compel evidence on oath or affirmation from the Maley pilot who was within British air space then, but probably will not be when the inquiry takes place.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he believes should have urgent consideration, namely, the issues arising from the statement by the Secretary of State for Transport about air misses. Again, I have listened with concern to what the hon. Member has said, but I regret that I do not consider that the matter he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 20. I hope that he will find other opportunities to raise this matter in the House.