HC Deb 04 June 1954 vol 528 cc127-9W
Air Commodore Harvey

asked the Minister of Supply whether he will make a statement concerning the submission of an interim report by the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, to the Commissioner investigating the accident to a Viking aircraft in Tanganyika on 29th March, 1953.

Mr. Low

The only report relating to this accident made by the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, was dated November, 1953, and was at once sent formally to the Commissioner in Tanganyika. The findings and conclusion of this report were generally accepted in the subsequent investigation, which a member of the R.A.E. staff attended as a witness.

The interim report referred to by the Commissioner was, as he himself states, "a technical memorandum compiled for purely departmental purposes and not written in contemplation of its being tendered in evidence ". (Paragraph 47 of his first report written after the earlier investigation which had been held one month after the accident.)

This technical memorandum dated 24th April, 1953, was compiled by two members of the R.A.E. staff to summarise the results of a quick examination of certain portions of the structure of the aircraft, which had been received at Farnborough a few days before. It was not an authoritative R.A.E. report and was not submitted by the R.A.E. to the Commissioner. The thorough investigation that the R.A.E. carried out during the next few months confirmed all the conclusions drawn in this memorandum, except in one particular concerning the probable cause of corrosion that had been observed.

The Commissioner took oral evidence at Dar es Salaam in Tanganyika on 28th and 29th April, but no member of the staff of R.A.E. was called as a witness. A copy of the technical memorandum, which was in the hands of one of the witnesses at these hearings, was however accepted as technical evidence by the Commissioner. When this became known to the R.A.E. steps were taken to inform the Government of Tanganyika of the status of the memorandum. The authoritative report giving the opinion of the R.A.E. on the technical matters relevant to the Commissioner's investigation was, as stated above, submitted in November, 1953.

Mr. Lucas

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, if he is aware of the criticism of the Air Registration Board made in the report by the Tanganyikan court of inquiry into the accident to the Viking aircraft on 29th March. 1953; and whether be will make a statement.

Mr. Profumo

I am informed that the Air Registration Board were unaware that their administrative methods were to be the concern of the court. If they had been, they would have arranged to be appropriately represented so as to ensure that the court was adequately informed. It is the view of the Board that had full information been available it would have shown that their delegation procedure, which is similar to that of the Ministry of Supply, is best calculated to secure the performance of their functions in a practical manner.