§ Mr. JoplingTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether, in the light of the report of the collision between two Tornado aircraft over Cumbria on 9 August 1988, he will accelerate his plans to introduce a computerised system of track deconfliction to avoid a similar accident in future; and on which date he expects to implement it.
§ Mr. NeubertImmediately following the accident concerned and in the light of the interim report of the investigation, a review of night low flying regulations was carried out which resulted in the introduction of a restructured night low flying system in October 1988 designed to provide improved deconfliction arrangements. The automated low flying inquiry and notification system (ALFENS), which is currently in its project definition phase, should improve the flexibility of the night low flying system on its introduction in 1992, but there are no plans to accelerate its development in the light of the final report of the accident investigation.