§ Lieut.-Commander Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for Air what action was taken by the Air Ministry on the report that a British air liner was nearly struck by a projectile from a British warship in the Channel; whether the aircraft was flying over an officially recognised air-route; and whether it belonged to the company that requested the establishment of an officially recognised air-route for its traffic over the Southampton area?
Captain BalfourThe incident in question (which occurred last June) was reported to the Admiralty and arrangements were made for the exchange of information between that Department and the Air Ministry regarding the areas in which naval exercises are carried out and the routes followed by civil aircraft on scheduled services. The aircraft, which belonged to Jersey Airways, Limited, was not on an officially recognised air-route and was outside the area over which any such route could competently be prescribed. Jersey Airways is the company that asked for the establishment of an officially recognised air-route in the Southampton area.