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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Home Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Sea Harrier aircraft have been lost in the last year; how many new aircraft from the attrition batch whose procurement was announced in January 1994 have now been deployed in squadron service as replacements; and what navigation system was fitted to those replacement aircraft when they were delivered by British Aerospace.[31758] Mr. Soames: In the year since 1 June 1995, there have been two major accidents involving Royal Navy Sea Harrier FA2 aircraft. The first was on 20 October, when an aircraft caught fire while preparing to take off from Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, Yeovilton; and the second on 13 February when an aircraft ditched into the Adriatic. Additionally, a Royal Navy Harrier T4 crashed near Wellington, Somerset on 23 February, tragically killing the two personnel on board. Four Sea Harrier aircraft from the attrition batch whose procurement was announced in January 1994 have been deployed in squadron service. A further aircraft is currently in the maintenance group and will be delivered to a front-line squadron shortly. The replacement aircraft delivered by British Aerospace were fitted with the Navigation heading and attitudes reference system.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

31758; 279 c44-5W;279 c44W

Session

1995-96

Subjects

Armed forces Aviation Accidents Deployment Military aircraft Sea Harrier aircraft

Contains statistics

Yes