§ Mr. DayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he has received any recent report from the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority on progress being made to implement the air accident investigation branch recommendations following the Manchester airport tragedy that(a) mandatory provision for smoke hoods in all passenger aircraft, (b) the development and introduction of water spray/mist systems, (c) the improved rules to facilitate evacuation rates and (d) the development of toxicity tests in cabin material specifications.;
(2) if he will ask the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority to review methods by which passenger jets are approved for air worthiness certification in light of the conclusions drawn by an expert from the Federal Aviation Administration on the subject of aging jets at a conference on aviation safety held in London in June.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe safety regulation of civil aviation is wholly the statutory responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority.
I understand that the expert referred to was explaining matters which have been for over a year the subject of discussion and action by, among others, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The most recent CAA report on the AAIB investigation is the "Follow-up Action on Accident Reports No. F. 5/89" issued on 13 March. This document covers all of the matters raised by my hon. Friend and I shall arrange for a copy to be sent to him.