§ Mr. SPENCERasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air (1) whether the meteorological reports furnished by railway signalmen are based upon the visibility of different objects at different distances in different localities; and how far account is taken of the peculiarities of local boxes as, for example, when they are situated in cuttings or depressions;
(2) whether he is aware that some of the signal-boxes from which meteorological reports are received are unoccupied for several hours, and in certain cases during the whole of Sunday; and from what sources are reports obtained when those signal-boxes are not available?
§ Sir P. SASSOONThe meteorological reports supplied by railway signalmen relate to the visibility on the railway line and are supplied to the companies for railway use; they are not supplied to the Air Ministry. In connection with the recent inquiry at Manchester, the information contained in certain of these records was kindly placed at the disposal of the Air Ministry by the London Midland (SL Scottish Railway Company as a special measure and was examined in the Meteorological Office with a view to assessing the normal visibility at certain localities outside Manchester where no observations are taken by the Meteoro- 385W logical Office itself. In making the assessment, due allowance was made for the factors referred to by my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. SPENCERasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been called to the evidence given by the assessor in the recent airport inquiry, held at Manchester, that weather reports rendered by pilots Are generally unreliable; and in what way reports furnished from signal-boxes are superior?
§ Sir P. SASSOONThe representative of the Directorate of Civil Aviation who, at the request of the Ministry of Health, attended the Manchester airport inquiry, did not attend as an 'assessor but simply to answer any technical questions that might be put to him. The statement to which my hon. Friend refers was intended to make the point that actual observations of fixed objects from a fixed point form a better basis for comparing the normal visibility in different localities than the impressions of a pilot in a rapidly moving aeroplane.