HC Deb 29 March 1988 vol 130 c458W
Mr. Tim Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what criteria he used to determine whether an air miss falls into category A, B, or C, and who makes the determination;

(2) if he will publish in the Official Report showing (a) the total number of air misses involving commercial aircraft, (b) the number of category A air misses, (c) the number of category B air misses and (d) the number of category C air misses for each of the last 20 years.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Air misses are assessed by the joint air miss working group (JAWG) an independent group composed of nominees from aviation bodies JAWG follows International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines in assessing an air miss as one of:

  1. A: Definite Risk
  2. B.: Possible Risk
  3. C.: No Risk

The Civil Aviation Authority, which is wholly responsible for aviation safety regulation, publishes United Kingdom air miss statistics covering the last 10 years three times a year together with explanatory notes and copies are placed in the Library. The figures requested for commercial air transport aircraft involved in air misses over the last 20 years are as follows: