§ 2.29 p.m.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government if they are aware that the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, to the effect that the obsolete American V.O.R. system should be adopted as standard for the world's air liners, will result in an arbitrary increase in American sales at the expense of superior British equipment, and what advice or instructions on this subject they have given to British airline operators.]
THE EARL OF GOSFORDMy Lords, Her Majesty's Government are certainly aware of the implication in the first part of the noble Lord's Question. The purpose of the recent Special International Civil Aviation Organisation Meeting in Montreal was to determine the operational requirement for a short-range navigational aid which would be suitable in all conditions including conditions of high density traffic in restricted airspace, and to select the kind of system which 845 would best meet such requirements. The Conference decided to recommend V.O.R., with the addition of a distance-measuring equipment known as D.M.E.T., as a standard for this purpose. V.O.R. as such has been a standard short-range aid since 1949. It is a useful aid under many conditions and is by no means obsolete.
The United Kingdom delegation expressly reserved the position of Her Majesty's Government on D.M.E.T. and withdrew its proposal for the adoption of Decca as a protest, because in their view the Conference had not based its considerations on sound and objective technical grounds. Her Majesty's Government fully endorse the action of the delegation. It is essential to the future of safe navigation in the air that I.C.A.O. should establish adequate technical criteria for defining navigational requirements and that a detailed examination should then be made of the extent to which systems meet those requirements. Neither of these things has been done.
Before V.O.R./D.M.E.T. can be accepted as an international standard, however, it must be approved by a two-thirds majority in the Council of I.C.A.O. Her Majesty's Government will continue to press in I.C.A.O. for a more satisfactory solution, since we consider that the present standards of safety in congested airspace cannot be maintained with the use of V.O.R./D.M.E.T. without seriously reducing the efficiency of air traffic control. In the meantime the further development and evaluation of the Mark X Decca System will continue. It is thus premature to give any special advice or instructions to airline operators.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, while fully supporting Her Majesty's Government in that very vigorous and satisfactory Answer, may I ask the noble Earl whether it is not the case that although V.O.R. may not necessarily be obsolete—it may do for airfields with very few landings—it is not accurate enough for the safe maximum use of airspace in major airfields, and consequently that at those airports it is uneconomic because, for safety reasons, aircraft have to be delayed both on the ground and in the air? And can be bring that fact to the notice of the Governments concerned.
THE EARL OF GOSFORDMy Lords, I am extremely grateful for the kind reception by the noble Lord of my Answer. I will certainly bring to the attention of my right honourable friend the remarks made by the noble Lord, but I feel that as the question itself is still at a rather delicate stage it would be quite wrong for me to discuss it now.
§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHMy Lords, I should like to say officially from this Front Bench that we welcome very much the stand so far taken by Her Majesty's Government on this matter which is of the utmost importance to the whole basis of safety in flying at large and essentially to our defence; and I hope that they will be successful in their future submissions to I.C.A.O.
LORD GIFFORDMy Lords, is the noble Earl aware that local helicopter services in New York areas have adopted the Decca system and are more than satisfied with it as an accurate navigational aid?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, would the noble Earl tell us whether there are any countries in this Association which are not involved in high density flying, particularly around London and New York.
THE EARL OF GOSFORDMy Lords, there are many members who are not interested in high density flying. That, I believe, is the problem.