§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many air misses there have been in each of the last four years involving aircraft(a) taking off and (b) landing at (i) Leeds-Bradford and (ii) Humberside airports.
§ Mr. NorrisThe responsibility for the safety regulation of United Kingdom civil aviation rests with the Civil Aviation Authority—CAA.
All air miss reports in United Kingdom airspace, involving civil or military aircraft, are investigated initially by the joint air miss section of the National Air Traffic Services, which is a joint CAA/Ministry of Defence organisation. They are then examined by the joint air miss working group—JAWG—an independent committee drawn from a wide cross-section of responsible aviation bodies.
The records held by the joint air miss section, of air miss reports submitted by pilots show that for the period in question, no air miss reports were submitted for Leeds airport, while for Humberside airport only two such reports have been submitted. The first incident occurred on 23 May 1991 and involved a civilian aircraft in the final descent phase of its flight, which came into conflict with a military aircraft. The second incident took place on 13 October 1992 and also involved a loss of separation between a military aircraft and a civilian aircraft. The latter was in the landing phase of its flight. In both cases the incidents were subsequently judged by the JAWG to have involved no risk of collision.