§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the nature and purpose of the night low flying without lights which took place at several locations in west and north-west Scotland in the week commencing 18 October; how many and what types of aircraft took part; how many low flying sorties were flown by each type; what proportion of these took place between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am British summer time; at what level of command authority was given for this activity; and what advance information was given to(a) hon. Members, (b) local media and (c) local aviation interests concerning the activity.
§ Mr. HanleyIt is necessary for the RAF and the Anny Air Corps to practise the skills for flying a variety of operations, a number of which would involve flying under cover of darkness and without lights. A period of training to exercise such skills was held in west and north west Scotland between 16 and 28 October. The number of aircraft which took part, the total number of sorties flown and the number flown between 11 pm and 7 am were as follows:
Total sorties Sorties between 11 pm and 7 am 1 Chinook 5 3 1 Puma 11 2 5 Lynx 41 6 3 Wessex 20 0 1 Hercules 27 4 2 Tornado 17 0 The exercise was authorised at the appropriate level for such activity. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence wrote to forewarn hon. Members for constituencies principally affected and a brief outline of the exercise was disseminated to local media by HQ Scotland and HQ North West Brigade before it began. Civil aviators were notified of the activity by the aeronautical information service in the usual way.