Written question asked by Ruth Cadbury (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 January 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 January 2016 (named day). It was answered by Robert Goodwill (Conservative) on Monday, 11 January 2016 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

London Airports: Accidents

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the potential damage to housing and infrastructure and loss of life that would result from an aircraft crashing on approach or arrival at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports.

Answer: For people living and working near airports, safety is best achieved by ensuring the safe operation of aircraft in flight.However, in areas of greater risk, we seek to control the number of people at risk through the Public Safety Zone (PSZ) system.Public Safety Zones are areas of land at the ends of the runways at the busiest airports, within which development is restricted in order to control the number of people on the ground at risk of death or injury in the event of an aircraft accident on take-off or landing. The implementation of Public Safety Zone policy at civil airports is based on modelling work carried out using appropriate aircraft accident data to determine the level of risk to people on the ground around airports.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 20996
Session: 2015-16
Subjects: Death Accidents Aircraft Housing Infrastructure Heathrow Airport Gatwick Airport
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk