Mr. Tom Ellisasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now consider publishing statistics of flying accidents in the three Services.
§ Mr. JohnYes. For the calendar year 1974, the military flying accident rates per 10,000 flying hours, together with the total assessed costs, were as follows:
Accident rate (Per 10,000 Assessed flying hours) Assessed cost £ million Royal Navy 1.48 3.57 Army 0.40 0.27 Royal Air Force 0.32 12.9 The differing rates between the three Services reflect the different types of flying and aircraft involved. In particular, the figures for the Royal Navy reflect the short duration of most of the flights, and the higher risk of accidents occurring over water resulting in the loss of, or major damage to, the aircraft.
For this purpose an accident is defined as an occurrence where the aircraft is missing, destroyed, damaged beyond repair or is not repairable on site.
It is our intention in the future to publish an annual table of accident rates similar to that for 1974 given above.