Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints were received about low-flying aircraft in 1987 from England, Scotland and Wales.
§ Mr. FreemanDuring 1987 the Ministry of Defence received 4,053 inquiries and complaints about military low flying in relation to England, 729 in relation to Scotland and 913 in relation to Wales.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total number of aircraft movements authorised for flying below 250 ft over the United Kingdom in 1987; on how many days such low flying took place; and if he will provide a breakdown of these figures for(a) the northern Scotland tactical training area, (b) the central Wales tactical training area, (c) the Borders tactical training area and (d) other areas.
§ Mr. FreemanThe information requested regarding aircraft movements authorised for flying below 250 ft within the tactical training area is given in the table. The number of days on which such flying actually took place is not however available, and could not be provided without disproportionate effort. Figures in the table relate to the number of days on which flying was authorised to take place. We would expect actual figures to be significantly lower because alternative dates are often prebooked for use in case of bad weather. Operational low flying only takes place in the United Kingdom in the three tactical training areas.
765W
Tactical training area Northern Scotland Central Wales Borders Total Operational low flying movements 518 242 626 1,386 Number of days on which operational low-flying was authorised 133 101 110 145
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total number of low-flying sorties carried out over the United Kingdom in 1987, calculated by(a) counting the number of sorties directly and (b) the pre-1985 method of logging movements between low-flying areas.
§ Mr. FreemanThe total number of sorties flown during 1987 was 147,661. The approximate total number of sorties flown, as recalculated from movements by the pre-1985 method, was 133,213.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the total number of low-flying sorties flown over the United Kingdom in 1987 was accounted for by(a) fast jets, (b) light jet trainers, (c) heavy propeller-driven aircraft, (d) light propeller-driven aircraft and (e) helicopters.
§ Mr. FreemanThe proportion of military low-level training sorties flown over the United Kingdom during 1987 for each of the categories stated is as follows:
per cent. Fast Jets 60 Light Jet Trainers 10 Heavy propeller-driven aircraft 2 Light propeller-driven aircraft 1 Helicopters 27
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the total number of low-flying sorties flown over the United Kingdom in 1987 was represented by(a) British military aircraft, (b) United States air force aircraft, (c) other NATO air forces aircraft and (d) aircraft from non-NATO countries.
§ Mr. FreemanCentral statistics do not distinguish between categories(c) and (d) in the question. Otherwise available information for 1987 is as follows:
Operating authority Proportion of sorties flown per cent. British Military 84 USAF 15 Others 1