HL Deb 22 October 1952 vol 178 cc836-7

3.13 p.m.

LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTH

My Lords, I beg to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when the inquiry is to be held into the loss of the Consul aircraft in the English Channel in which the pilot and five passengers lost their lives; and what is the reason for the delay, in view of the fact that the accident occurred on 14th June last, and an inquiry was ordered by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 14th July.]

LORD LEATHERS

My Lords, I understand that the public inquiry is to open tomorrow, October 23. Under the present procedure, which is on broadly the same lines as the corresponding shipping procedure, the court is appointed by the Lord Chancellor and the case is presented to the court by the Attorney-General, acting in the public interest. The interval between the announcement of a public inquiry and the actual time of meeting is taken up by the appointment of the court, the assessors and the representative of the Attorney-General, and by the collection and preparation of evidence. This latter work, which may involve technical investigation and consideration of statements by many witnesses, normally occupies some nine to twelve weeks. I am satisfied that this careful preparation of the case before the hearing greatly assists the court in its task and in the long run saves quite a lot of time. In this particular case October 6 had been agreed for the opening of the inquiry, but a postponement to October 23 was agreed to at the request of an interested party.

LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTH

My Lords, I am afraid that I cannot express the same satisfaction with the noble Lord's reply here as I did with his reply to my previous Question. However, the whole subject of inquiries into aircraft accidents is one which it is impossible to discuss by question and answer and I think I should say that at some future date we may desire to put down a Motion on this subject for discussion. This would allow the noble Lord to give a full explanation of the present procedure.