HC Deb 16 February 1989 vol 147 cc328-9W
Mr. Campbell-Savours

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the occasions since 1971 on which proceedings have been instituted against Royal Air Force personnel under sections(a) 49(b) 51 and (c) 52 of the Air Force Act 1955; and what were the outcome of the proceedings in each case.

Mr. Neubert

The table provides the details of Royal Air Force personnel who have been convicted by court martial under the sections mentioned.

Mr. Neubert

In his statement on 3 March, columns654–56 of the Official Report my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport set out the special reasons for making public the findings of the joint airmiss working group in relation to airmiss reports involving commercial air transport aircraft in United Kingdom airspace. This policy was introduced after discussions with the Ministry of Defence and applies to all such instances, including those where military aircraft are involved. In order to preserve the confidentiality of the airmiss investigation system, however, I will not publish any detailed information relating to other airmiss reports involving military aircraft. The relevant statistics on airmiss reports involving military aircraft in United Kingdom airspace are as follows:

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
Total risk bearing (A and B) 53 49 59 53 43 49 44 51 52 n.a.
Category1 C 75 89 84 61 61 57 46 69 58 n.a.
Risk not assessable 2 2 2 4 1 1 2 0 1 n.a.
Total 130 140 145 118 105 107 92 120 111 133
1A. Definite risk.
B. Possible risk.
C. No risk.

NoteA breakdown of the 1988 total is not yet available.