§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what has caused the slippage in the installation of cockpit voice recorders in the RAF Chinook helicopter fleet from late spring 2000 to the end of the year 2000; and if he will make a statement; [58756]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 18 November 1997, Official Report, columns 152-53, if cockpit voice recorders will be fitted to the first six RAF Chinook helicopters by December 1998; and if he will make a statement. [58836]
326W
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 10 November 1998]: As part of the Health and Usage Monitoring System, HUMS, Cockpit Voice Recorders are expected to be fitted to the first six RAF Chinook helicopters by 30 June 1999. HUMS will be embodied in the full RAF Chinook fleet by December 2000. This represent a slippage of around 6 months against the previous programme dates, which is a result of technical difficulties encountered with the aircraft interface installation.