§ 68. Captain Orrasked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that British Railways ships have no direct means of radio communication with aircraft; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy this dangerous deficiency.
§ 69. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Minister of Transport if he is aware that ships and aircraft use different systems of wireless communication and that difficulty and danger is thereby caused to voyagers in both; and if he will set up an inquiry with a view to rectifying this and co-ordinating these means of communication.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydIn general, merchant ships and aircraft use different frequencies and so have no means of direct radio communication one with the other. There are however standing arrangements whereby distress traffic concerning either party is passed, whenever necessary, to the other through shore control links with the minimum of delay. These links give the essential co-ordination within the rescue organisation. In addition, the military aircraft earmarked for long range search and rescue operations are able to communicate direct with merchant ships fitted with radiotelegraphy. These arrangements have proved generally satisfactory. They will however be included in the examination which I am arranging of the air-sea rescue arrangements, and the points made by hon. Members will be borne in mind.