§ Mr. Colvinasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he has reviewed the policy on public safety zones at the ends of busy airport runways introduced after the Manchester air crash in 1958.
§ Mr. EyreAn inter-departmental working group of officials has re-examined the present arrangements in the light of recent world-wide accident statistics. These show that the risk to people on the ground from an aircraft crash is very small compared with the normal hazards of life and that most of those aircraft accidents which have taken place around airports occur within 300 metres of the runway threshold. They have therefore recommended that while public safety zones should be retained, some adjustments should be made to the criteria for establishing the zones, their dimensions, and the degree of development which should be allowed within them so as to reflect more closely current assessments of the degree of risk.
While responsibility for establishing public safety zones at military aerodromes will remain with the Ministry of Defence, it is proposed that the administration of public safety zones around civil airports will in future pass to the Civil Aviation Authority. The Department of Trade will retain general responsibility for public safety zone policy. I accept these recommendations and will arrange for details to be made available to the local authorities, airport operators and others concerned. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.