HC Deb 12 February 1969 vol 777 c323W
61. Mr. Barnes

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to ensure that air traffic control personnel at British airports are able to refuse arriving aircraft permission to land because of conditions on the ground in cases where there is no emergency that would prevent such aircraft from diverting to another airport.

Mr. William Rodgers

The rôle of air traffic control has always been to supply the pilot with information and advice but to allow him to make his own decisions. I think that, on balance, it is better to leave the pilot with this discretionary element within his company's requirements.