§ Mr. Lubbockasked the President of the Board of Trade how many air misses have been reported to his Department in respect of Luton, Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Turnhouse, Speke, Abbotsinch, Leeds/Bradford, Teesside, Stansted 142W and Southend, respectively, in the years 1967 and 1968; and if, in view of recent incidents involving large numbers of passengers, he will make the reporting of air misses mandatory.
§ Mr. Goronwy RobertsTaking the whole of the air space within a radius of eight miles around each of the aerodromes in question—as being a representative manoeuvring area for large transport aircraft—no air miss incidents were reported in either 1967 or 1968 for Heathrow, Manchester, Glasgow (Abbotsinch), or Southend. Of the incidents reported during these years for the other aerodromes in question, none was subsequently assessed as involving actual risks.
The present voluntary reporting arrangements work well, with the full support of pilots and airlines. It is a matter for the judgment of the pilots involved whether an incident has occurred which justifies reporting; to introduce mandatory arrangements would be very difficult to enforce and could prejudice the present spirit of co-operation.