§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the investigation of allegations about Donaldson International Airways has 528W now been completed; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NobleThe investigation has now been completed with the willing cooperation of the company. With regard to allegations that the company's aircraft were flown with unrectified defects, no evidence has been found that defects recorded by pilots in accordance with the regulations were not attended to in a satisfactory manner.
It was found however that complaints about the flight crew work and rest patterns in the summer months were justified. The regulations permit aircraft commanders in certain circumstances to shorten the prescribed rest periods or to extend planned duty periods. The company and its pilots failed in many such cases to make the reports that the regulations require and largely for this reason the unsatisfactory nature of the scheduling of flights and rostering of crews was not detected by the Department's inspectors in the course of regular inspection.
The company have been made fully aware of the matters brought to light by the investigation and have taken immediate steps to ensure that unsatisfactory patterns of work and rest do not arise in their future operations. The Director of Aviation Safety has decided, in view of the action the company are taking and the assurances he has received, that he would not be justified at the present time in suspending or revoking the air operator's certificate. He will, however, be keeping the matter under review in the light of future reports by his inspectors. In addition, inspection procedures are being changed to ensure that any future similar situation is more readily detected at the outset.