Written question asked by Lord Spicer (Conservative) on Thursday, 10 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 16 March 2005. It was answered by Ivor Caplin (Labour) on Wednesday, 16 March 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3rd March, 431 c1342W, on near air misses, if he will instruct the Royal Air Force to cease flying over Strensham Heliport until he has had the opportunity to assess the findings of his investigations into the near air misses on 14th December 2004 and 9th February 2005.

Answer: Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2005, Official Report, column 1342W, on near air misses, if he will instruct the Royal Air Force to cease flying over Strensham Heliport until he has had the opportunity to assess the findings of his investigations into the near air misses on 14 December 2004 and 9 February 2005. [221678] Mr. Caplin: [holding answer 14 March 2005]: There are at present no grounds on which we feel it appropriate to create an exclusion zone at the Strensham helicopter landing site. The site has, however, been marked as a warning on low flying charts. The position will be reviewed when the results of the UK Airprox Board investigations are known.

Secondary information