HC Deb 15 March 1967 vol 743 cc103-4W
Mr. Rankin

asked the President of the Board of Trade in view of the fact that the Commission set up to inquire into last year's accident to Vanguard G-APEE has reached a conclusion not necessarily related to the evidence given to it, if he will include for the future a practising pilot as a member of any official investigating team because of the specialist technical nature of the evidence to be assessed.

Mr. J. P. W. Mallalieu

Without commenting on my hon. Friend's views about the Vanguard Inquiry, I should point out that one of the Assessors appointed by the Lord Chancellor was a practising pilot. The composition of investigating teams for major accidents was among the matters considered by the Cairns Committee in 1960. It was subsequently stated in Command 1695 that a pilot with suitable experience would normally be associated with the inquiry, if the conduct of the pilot was likely to be called in question.