§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what records are kept of flights made by private aircraft from United Kingdom airports and airfields; what requirements exist on pilots to register proposed flight paths and names and numbers of passengers; and in what respects these requirements and records are different for flights going overseas from internal flights.
§ Mr. NorrisCivil aviation legislation does not formally require official records of flights made by private aircraft to be kept by airports. However, most airports or airfields do maintain logbooks. In addition, under the terms of article 23 of the Air Navigation Order 1989 any member of the flight crew of an aircraft is required to maintain personal flying logbooks, in which they are required to record a variety of information, including the date and the places at which the crew member embarked on and disembarked from the aircraft at the end of each flight.
Under the rules of the air the commander of an aircraft arriving at or departing from an aerodrome in the United Kingdom shall take all reasonable steps to ensure upon landing or prior to departure, as the case may be, that notice of that event is given to the person in charge of the aerodrome, or to the air traffic control unit or aerodrome flight information unit at the aerodrome. This is known as booking-in or out, but names of passengers are not included. He is also required to file a flight plan for air traffic control purposes when the aircraft is expected to fly in controlled airspace under instrument flight rules.
When intending to cross an international flight information region boundary all aircraft pilots are required to file a flight plan and provide information identifying the type of the aircraft, the destination and the number of individuals on board the aircraft. A flight plan is also required if the total weight of the aircraft exceeds 5,700 kg and its intended destination is more than 40 km from the point of departure. This information is required primarily for potential search and rescue purposes and again the names of the passengers are not included.