HC Deb 24 January 1997 vol 288 cc765-6W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action the Civil Aviation Authority has taken in response to the recent conclusions reached by the United States Federal Aviation Administration in respect of digital flight management systems. [5564]

Mr. John Bowis

The report, "The Interfaces Between Flight Crews and Modern Flight Deck Systems" was published by the US Federal Aviation Administration in June 1996. The report was produced by a task force comprising representatives from the FAA and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration together with nominees from the joint aviation authorities including two representatives from the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

The CAA is considering the 51 recommendations made in the report and has yet to give a formal response. Any resulting regulatory action will be determined by the JAA with appropriate reference to comments received from the aviation authorities of member states. The CAA will continue to ensure that its own human factors initiatives follow a similar approach to that of the FAA, especially in its contributions to the regulatory work of the JAA.

The FAA has also yet to respond to the recommendations contained in the report.