Low Flying (Hansard, 26 July 1988)

§ 62. Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last met representatives of countryside and farming organisations to discuss problems associated with low-flying military exercises.

§ Mr. Freeman
Neither I nor my right hon. Friend have attended any such meetings recently. However, officials, during the course of normal business, are in fairly regular contact with representatives of countryside and farming organisations with regard to low-flying military exercises and other matters.

§ Mr. Canavan
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the frequency of low-level RAF flights(a) in Scotland and (b) in the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Freeman
A low-level training sortie or flight covers on average 2.5 low-flying areas and the number of flights that take place entirely within Scotland is not separately recorded. A comparison in terms of aircraft movements can be made, although available statistics cover all British military users, not just the RAF. On this basis, in 1987 there were 24,679 movements in Scotland and 262,948 movements in the United Kingdom as a whole.

§ Mrs. Margaret Ewing
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if United States Air Force B-52 aircraft are permitted to use the Highlands restricted area for terrain following radar low flying.

§ Mr. Freeman
[holding answer 16 June 1988]: Normally only RAF and United Kingdom-based USAF aircraft are allowed to conduct low-flying training with terrain following radar in the Highlands restricted area, although an exception has been made in the past for USAFE C-130 aircraft based in the Federal Republic of Germany.

§ Mrs. Margaret Ewing
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which types of United States military aircraft are permitted to fly at less than 250 ft in the three tactical training areas in the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Freeman
[holding answer 16 June 1988]: Use of the three tactical training areas (TTAs) in the United Kingdom is not formally limited to certain aircraft types, although in practice approval to operate in a TTA would normally be sought only on behalf of aircraft whose operational role required such low-level flights. All requests to operate in a TTA are considered on their merits; no requests have been received from the United States air force.