§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the criteria which objectively determine when an aircraft accident is a major or a minor one.
§ Mr. FreemanDamage to aircraft is categorised as follows:
Incidents
- (a) Category 1—the damage is repairable on site by established first line personnel.1
- (b) Category 2—the damage is repairable on site by established second line personnel.2
Accidents
- (c) Category 3—the damage is repairable on site but is beyond unit technical resources. Assistance from a repair and salvage unit or civilian contractor is required.
- (d) Category 4—the damage is not repairable on site. The aircraft must be removed to an established depot or civilian repair organisation.
- (e) Category 5—the aircraft is damaged beyond repair or is missing, or, in accordance with current Ministry of Defence policy, is not worth repairing.
A minor accident is defined as one where the aircraft damage is classifed as category 3. A major accident is defined as one where the aircraft damage is either category 4 or 5.
1 First line personnel conduct before flight, after flight and turnround servicing including minor component changes.
2 Second line conduct deeper servicing, including major component changes and structural repair.