§ Mr. Churchillasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the explanation 525W of the greatly increased failure rate of Royal Air Force pilots undergoing training in the "fast jet" scheme; and if he will publish the failure rate of each year since 1974 expressed as a percentage.
§ Mr. WellbelovedThe failure rate in the fast jet stream is influenced by the numbers undergoing fast jet pilot training, and by the proportion of those numbers in relation to the requirements of the multi-engine and rotary wing streams to which candidates can also be allocated after the completion of basic flying training. Overall wastage rates from the fast jet stream are as follows:
Percentage 1974–75 41 1975–76 50 1976–77 66 1977–78 54 Multi-engine pilot training was suspended in 1975–76 and 1976–77; the numbers in the fast jet stream in 1977–78 were almost double what they were in 1974–75.