§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of RAF C-130J aircraft had been planned to be out of service in 2003 owing to maintenance; and if he will make a statement. [135801]
§ Mr. IngramThe planned number of C-130J aircraft on routine, scheduled maintenance at any one time is normally one aircraft, equating to 4 per cent. of the 25 aircraft fleet. However, due to the heavy use of the fleet on Operation TELIC, this has been increased to a planned average of 1.5 aircraft; this equates to 6 per cent.
§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what percentage of RAF C-130J aircraft(a) are and (b) have been judged to be below mission readiness owing to chronic engine problems in each month in 2003; [135803]
(2) how many RAF C-130 J aircraft (a) are out of service and (b) have been out of service in each month of 2003 owing to (i) routine maintenance and (ii) engine problems; and if he will make a statement. [135802]
§ Mr. Ingram"Chronic engine problems" has been taken to refer to significant faults such as turbine failures and generator problems that have caused engine rejections. Faults such as low oil pressure and other routine faults have not been included.
As at 0800 on 30 October 2003, nine RAF C-130J aircraft were out of service. Of these nine, two aircraft were back in service 24 hours later. The average number of aircraft unavailable due to routine maintenance and engine problems during the first 10 months of 2003 is provided in the following table. Some aircraft may have undergone routine maintenance at the same time as being out of service for engine related problems.
The figures in the table are not whole numbers because they are calculated as the number of aircraft that were unserviceable during the month multiplied by the proportion of the month that each aircraft was out of service. As an example, if one aircraft was unserviceable for 40 per cent. of the month then this would give an average of 0.4, as in January. These figures have then been expressed as a percentage in the second table.
1255W
Month Average number of aircraft unserviceable for engine problems Average number of aircraft in scheduled maintenance January 0.4 2.0 February 1.2 2.0
Month Average number of aircraft unserviceable for engine problems Average number of aircraft in scheduled maintenance March 1.2 1.1 April 1.2 1.3 May 7.7 1.3 June 5.1 1.0 July 4.6 1.8 August 6.0 1.2 September 6.1 1.7 October 7.2 1.9
Average percentage of fleet (25 aircraft) unserviceable due to chronic engine faults during each month of 2003 (adjusted for proportion of month each aircraft was unserviceable) Month Percentage of fleet January 1 February 5 March 5 April 5 May 31 June 20 July 18 August 24 September 25 October 29