§ 17. Mr. Lambornasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish board of inquiry reports into accidents involving Royal Air Force aircraft.
§ Mr. WellbelovedCivil aircraft accident investigations, which are published, are limited to establishing the circumstances and conclusions as to the causes of accidents, but RAF boards of inquiry seek not only to establish the cause of an accident but also where appropriate to allocate blame in their findings. Their proceedings are tailored to these ends. There would consequently be difficulties over publication of the evidence or findings of RAF boards of inquiry, not least the legal difficulties occasioned by witnesses not being protected by rules of evidence which apply in the courts. There could also be security objections to publication in some instances. Unless the rules618W laid down for the conduct of boards of inquiry in Queen's Regulations for the Royal Air Force were changed—and this would require the approval of the House—I could not make a practice of publishing their reports. However, I recognise that aircraft accidents are a matter of public concern and I have therefore put in hand a study to examine what can be done to release more information about the findings of boards of inquiry.