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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 2193.PDF
516 FLIGHT International, 27 September 1902 Al R COM MERCE 'over-simplified the problem" when it said that it saw no reason why diversion from surface operators should deter it from exercising its primary function "of furthering the develop ment of British civil aviation." This rather vague comment can hardly satisfy British Railways, who asked Sir Arthur for a ruling on the matter; but the railways cannot be very en couraged by Sir Arthur's further comment that existing air operators can in any case damage surface operators almost as much as a second airline would, simply by extending their unlimited frequency. On the second point, about traffic rights, Sir Arthur says he has decided to disregard consultations between the Board and the Minister on this question, and not to attempt to form any opinion on alleged traffic rights difficulties. Perhaps the most enlightened passage in Sir Arthur's report is the following: "At this early stage of development, there fore, the Board are like pioneers setting out on a voyage of discovery without adequate maps or charts to guide them. For this reason alone they would deserve a generous measure of support, and I would add at once that, in my opinion, they are greatly to be congratulated on their success in producing a practical workmanlike scheme for dealing with the mass of diverse applications which was delivered to them a year ago." Reactions From The Parties BEA: "These new private airline rights will mean yet more empty seats on the market. Everyone surely knows that air lines everywhere are suffering from too few passengers chasing too many seats—the natural road to ruin. It will now be even more difficult for airlines to hold down fares, let alone reduce them." British United Airways: "This is the first time in the history of British civil aviation that private enterprise has been recog nized. Now we have a route network which although minimal does at least give us a basis on which to plan for the future. But today's confirmation of these new services is not the end of the road. Foreign government approvals will take time and so many months have gone by that we may not be able to start all of them by next season. We hope, now that this battle be tween us is resolved, that we can come to a reasonable working relationship with BEA for the benefit of British civil aviation as a whole." Cunard Eagle: "We are very disappointed. It is pathetic that we have had to wait two years since the alteration of the Civil Aviation Act and now find that the Minister's decisions give us enough work for between two and three aeroplanes at the most. The frequency he has granted us on the London - Glasgow route, for instance, one of the densest routes in Europe and currently operated as a monopoly by BEA. is seven flights per week only, whereas BEA are at present operating no less than 59 services each week. Furthermore, BEA are free to put on as many more services as they wish. BEA's talk about com petition from us on domestic routes such as this is a complete farce because we are given frequencies which are pathetically restricted: they can drive us off the route by putting on even more than the 59 services they currently operate on this part icular route. The word competition hardly fits the case. "The whole system of licensing between independent air lines and the corporations needs a drastic overhaul; in particu lar it is quite wrong that the corporations should have un limited frequencies on all their routes whilst we are severely limited. We dT not mean by this that BEA should necessarily be restricted in the number of flights which they are allowed to operate on a given route, but we feel strongly that they shouid go to the licensing Board just as we have to do. It seems that from a route licence standpoint, there is one law for the cor porations and another for the private operators. "We are particularly disappointed that we are not to be allowed to fly the London - Manchester service, because if there was ever a route which required more capacity and competitive service, London to Manchester is that route." [Leading article in this issue] THE BRITISH SAFETY RECORD CONTINUED improvements in content, and also in promptness, of publication, are apparent in the Ministry of Aviation's Accident Survey for 1961.* In the past these annual surveys have taken as long as two years to reach the publication stage, and there have been shortcomings in the amount of information included, par ticularly in respect of recommendations for the avoidance of acci dents. The latest document maintains and improves on the higher standard achieved in the 1960 publication (CAP. 176). The survey covers all accidents to British-registered aircraft, from gliders to big jets, whether operated by British companies or (as in the case of one accident last year to a British-registered Vis count operated by All Nippon) to foreign companies. The essential question—is British air transport becoming less safe?—cannot be answered by statistics for so short a period as a year; but a compilation of five-year trends from the latest document and previous ones does provide a fair indication of the trend: FIVE-YEAR TRENDS ON BRITISH SCHEDULED SERVICES Stage flights flown per fatal accident Stage flights flown per accident involving death or serious in jury Fatal accident per 10,000 stage flights Aircraft miles flown per fatal accident Aircraft miles flown per accident involving death or serious injury Fatal accidents per 1 m aircraft miles Hours flown per fatal accident Hours flown per accident involving death or serious injury Fatal accidents per I0,000hr flown Passenger-miles flown per passenger killed Passenger-miles flown per passenger killed or seriously injured Passengers killed per 100m passenger-miles 1954-58 103,600 79,700 0.10 36,153,900 27,810,700 0.03 NA NA NA 50,034.600 44,451,300 2.0 1955-59 158.300 85.200 0.06 57,207,900 30,804,200 0.02 NA NA NA 98,494,600 80,230,700 1.0 1956-60 238.800 108,500 0.04 87,828,800 39.922,200 0.01 406,500 184.800 0.02 129,794,700 104,214,700 0.77 1957-61 212.500 98,100 0.05 78,639,300 36.295,100 0.01 344,200 158.900 0.03 165,177,400 116,663.800 0.61 Source: Ministry of Aviation. NA—not available. On the basis of the most commonly accepted safety index, fatal ities per 100m passenger-miles, the British scheduled passenger- * "A Survey of the Accidents to Aircraft of the United Kingdom in the year ended December 31, 1961." Ministry of Aviation, CAP. 181, HM Stationery Office, London, 1962. Price 4s 6d. This Dormer Do 27Q5 has recently been supplied to Transportes Aereos da Gu/ne Portuguesa (TAGP) for use on internal services
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