HC Deb 07 June 1988 vol 134 cc540-1W
Mr. Rogers

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the overall rates of low-level flying accidents in the Royal Air Force, expressed as a percentage of flying hours and low-level flying hours since 1980.

Mr. Freeman

As was explained to the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) at column82 on 8 December 1987, records of hours flown at low level by military aircraft are not held centrally. The rate of major accidents (per 10,000 hours flown by Royal Air Force aircraft at all levels worldwide) which occurred during low level operations was as follows:

Per cent.
1980 0.12
1981 0.11
1982 0.22
1983 0.17
1984 0.14
1985 0.10
1986 0.08
1987 0.18

Mr. Rogers

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-level sorties were flown by the RAF in(a) the United Kingdom and (b) the Federal Republic of Germany; in each year since 1980.

Mr. Freeman

Separate records of low-level sorties flown by the RAF in the United Kingdom are not available, but those for all British military aircraft (both fixed wing and helicopter) were as follows.

Number
1980 180,860
1981 194,620
1982 1106,920
1983 1118,920
1984 109,244
1985 115,063
1986 123,488
1987 123,293
1Before 1984 sorties were not recorded directly but have been calculated from movements. On average there are 2.5 movements per sortie.

Figures for RAF fixed wing low-level sorties in the Federal Republic of Germany are not available prior to 1984. Those for 1984 onwards are given below. These do not include helicopter sorties because these are not centrally recorded.

Number
1984 18,752
1985 18,124
1986 16,853
1987 15,900