Written question asked by Lord Bellingham (Conservative) on Wednesday, 27 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 November 2004. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Monday, 8 November 2004 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many accidents there have been during the service life of the Canberra that have (a) been the direct or indirect result of training for emergency situations and (b) taken place during asymmetric approaches or landing simulating engine failure; and how many civilian casualties have occurred as a result of those training accidents. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many accidents there have been during the service life of the Canberra that have (a) been the direct or indirect result of training for emergency situations and (b) taken place during asymmetric approaches or landing simulating engine failure; and how many civilian casualties have occurred as a result of those training accidents. [195173] Mr. Ingram: We only hold verifiable statistical data on Canberra accident rates dating from 1974. Since then, the RAF has lost 12 Canberra aircraft in accidents, at a rate of 0.35 per 10,000 flying hours. Of these, three were attributed to training for emergency situations. Of the three losses in emergency training, all were during the take off or overshoot phase while simulating engine failure. During the same period there have been over 100 incidents involving Canberra aircraft where engines have had to be shut down during flight. Three civilians were killed and six injured as a result of a training accident in 1977.

Secondary information