§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many accidents there were in which deceased aircrew were found guilty of gross negligence in aircraft that were not fitted with cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders since 1980; and what proportion of accidents involving military aircraft this represented. [108491]
380W
§ Mr. Spellar[pursuant to the reply, 7 February 2000, c. 31W]: I regret that there was an error in the information given. The answer provided was based on an examination of aircraft summaries rather than the original Board of Inquiry reports.
We have now completed a detailed check of the Board of Inquiry reports of the military aircraft accidents from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 1999. There were 486 aircraft accidents and a further 51 personal injury cases involving aircraft within this period. Of the 486 accidents, 317 occurred in the first 10 years. In 20 of the accidents, findings for gross, culpable or serious negligence were made against deceased aircrew in aircraft not fitted with cockpit voice recorders and accident data recorders; 16 of the cases occurred in the first 10 years.