§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the countries from which aircraft are banned by the Federal Aviation Authority from flying into the United States of America and the equivalent Civil Aviation Authority list; [18669]
(2) if he will list by country the number of inspections undertaken by the Civil Aviation Authority on aircraft flying into the United Kingdom; [18670]
(3) if he will list the countries identified as having safety oversight procedure problems by the US Federal Aviation Authority; and how many aircraft registered by those countries entered the UK in each of the last five years; [19079]
(4) how many inspections were undertaken on foreign registered aircraft within the UK and the country of registration in the last five years; and if he will list the defects found during those inspections. [19083]
§ Mr. NorrisBefore granting permission for a non-European Economic Area aircraft to fly to the United Kingdom, we seek confirmation that the aircraft will be operated in accordance with international safety standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. This confirmation is normally in the form of certificates issued by the aviation authorities of the state of registration of the aircraft, stating that the aircraft will be operated in accordance with ICAO safety standards. If there is any doubt about the safe operation of an aircraft, no permit will be issued until we are satisfied about its safety. This may involve asking the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct a physical check of the aircraft concerned.
310WSince 1993, we have instructed the CAA to carry out checks of aircraft from the following countries:
Country Number of checks Bulgaria 1 Ghana 2 Nigeria 1 Russia 5 Sweden 2 Tajikstan 1 Turkey 1 Venezuela 1 Yugoslavia 1 In addition, the CAA carries out inspections, without instruction from the Department, on any aircraft that it has reason to believe may be unsafe to fly.
A list of deficiencies uncovered by the physical checks is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.