Coventry Airport (Hansard, 25 October 1990)

§ Mr. Pawsey
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many air misses have been filed relating to Coventry airport over the past four years.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Two—one on 8 March 1989 and one on 27 June 1989. The first was assessed by the joint air miss working group (JAWG) as a possible risk of collision. The second has still to he evaluated by the JAWG.

§ Mr. Pawsey
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to change the instructions concerning the investigation of air misses so that complaints notified by members of the public may be so recorded.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Reports by members of the public are ocassionally received by the Department and by the CAA. There is no standard procedure for dealing with them; each one is treated on its merits. None of the reports received from the public in recent years has been found on investigation to indicate any hazardous situation. The height of an aircraft can be accurately measured and maintained. The normal separation by height of aircraft at the lower levels is 1,000 feet, about 300 metres. This close vertical, but quite safe, proximity can mislead even an expert observer into believing that the aircraft are dangerously close. There are no plans to change the instructions concerning reports notified by members of the public.

§ Mr. Pawsey
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on the methods of recording air misses; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has had no discussions with the Civil Aviation Authority on the recording of air misses, which are incidents reported only by pilots. However, during 1987 and 1988 discussions between my right hon. Friend and the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority led to the introduction of aircraft proximity hazard (APHAZ) reports by air traffic controllers. The APHAZ reporting system, which began on 1 April 1989, closely parallels that for air misses.

§ Mr. Pawsey
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many notifiable accidents were recorded for Coventry airport, and how many of those accidents were attributable to controller error, over the past two years.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
There have been two notifiable accidents at Coventry airport during the two years. On 23 August 1989 an undercarriage leg of a Cessna 172, a private aircraft, dropped into an unmarked pothole on the taxiway. The aircraft was substantially damaged, but there were no injuries. On 22 November 1989, a Cessna 150. a private aircraft, was blown on to its back during taxiing by the propeller wash of a DC6 that was running up its engines prior to take-off. The Cessna 150 was substantially damaged but there were no injuries.