RAF is putting lives at risk in Celtic countries

This document includes

Call for moratarium on low flying
Letter to Minister for Defence
George Robertson MP fails to act over low-flying hazard
RAF maintenance at "full-stretch"
League scores victory in safety campaign
Media silence over Hawks' grounding

See also:
Aircraft crash sites pose health risk

Low moratarium - Feb. 1998

 The Celtic League have called on Defence Secretary George Robertson to instate a moratorium on low flying by military aircraft following events in Italy last week in which a US Navy jet caused the deaths of 20 civilians. As acomparison, the US Navy jet was at 300' (100m) - the RAF is permitted to fly as low as 100' (30m) during low-flying exercises and complaints are regularly made that aircraft go below this!

 The League cite a litany of crashes over the years and also accuse Air Force Chiefs and the MOD of failing to tackle a lack of discipline amongst aircrew.

 Areas of mid Wales, the Borders and Scotland are used extensively for military low flying and the Celtic League have long maintained that an incident, such as that in Cavalese last week, involving serious civilian loss of life is inevitable unless the problem is addressed.

 The tactical strategy which underpins low flying is often cited as an imperative by the RAF/MOD when pressure groups call for change. However following the Gulf War establishment voices also questioned its wisdom with figures such as Margaret Thatcher and Gulf War leader General de la Billiere critical of attrition amongst low flying Tornado attack aircraft.

 The RAF also has serious personnel and maintenance problems and in the spring of 1997 the Chief of the Air Staff admitted that the Air Force was at "full stretch" and further commitments could threaten safety".

 The MOD has shown scant regard for aircrew safety over the years with poorly maintained, obsolescent aircraft being pushed to the limit. Many aircrew have died in operational training.

 The Celtic League fear that unless Robertson acts now, this flawed policy will also cause civilian deaths in those areas where military low flying is carried out.

Text of letter to UK Minister for Defence - 2nd Feb, 1998

 Dear Minister,

 We write with reference to last week's tragic accident at Cavalese in N. Italy in which 20 people died following an incident involving a low flying US Navy aircraft. We understand that the Italian government has now moved to curtail military low flying.

 For many years now a variety of pressure groups has cited the dangers posed by military low flying, particularly in areas such as mid Wales, the Borders and the South West and Highland areas of Scotland. During this period, a series of incidents has occurred. Aircraft have crashed near villages, debris from crashing aircraft has fallen on to main roads and a number of mid air collisions have occurred. It is only by a fortunate coincidence that no serious tragedy, on the scale of that at Cavalese, has been avoided thus far.

 During this time, the scale of the lack of discipline exhibited by military flying personnel is demonstrated by the fact over a twenty year period, despite a complaint rate of 100,000, effective disciplinary action has only been taken in three instance (source: your own Department's figures).

 We urge you, in light of the Cavalese tragedy and the undoubted threat that operational low flying by military aircraft in the areas identified poses, to call a moratorium on low level operations and, as a first step curtail, all flying training below 1000' except in Air Traffic controlled zones.

 Yours sincerely

 J B Moffatt 

Low flying Robertson Condemned

 George Robertson MP was condemned for failing to take action to end the nuisance despite clear evidence from independent research about the health problems caused. The meeting was told some Labour MPs who were outspoken on the issue appeared to have been quieter since they achieved power.

 Suggestions that the amount of low flying should be "spread more evenly" across the UK and use made of facilities in Canada were branded as insensitive to those in mid Wales and the Highlands, and grossly offensive to the native people of the Goose Bay area of N. America. The comments had been made in a House of Commons debate in early July in the context of the ratio of sorties over Northumberland.

 The League's General Secretary said their was only one "easy fix" for this problem and that was to push training levels for combat jets above 1000'

RAF at "Full Stretch" -06-04-97

 The admission by the Chief of the Air Staff that the RAF is at "full stretch" and further commitments could threaten safety" once again albeit in a restrained manner highlights concerns expressed over many years by the Celtic League.

 A spate of aircraft accidents across Scotland. N. Ireland and Wales has left us in no doubt that the operations by the RAF and other services are not only compromised by personnel cuts and maintenance deficiencies but also are exacerbated by the operational lifetime of some of the types in Service. Accidents like the Chinook destroyed at Kintyre (29 died) indicate that even after rebuild, aircraft incorrectly maintained are lethal. Other types, such as the Tornada and Hawk, have been dropping from the sky with amazing rapidity over the past 15 years. Indeed, for no explained reason, RAF Hawk trainers operating mainly over Wales have a worse record than the same type in service overseas.

 Meanwhile the MoD, who were three years ago scouring the second-hand helicopter market for medium lift helicopters for use in Ulster, had a welcome reprieve with the subsequent ceasefire there. Although now ended there has not been a return to the levels of security pre 1994 and the "Fred Karnos" circus of ageing helicopters that the RAF and British Army deploy continue their tasks.

 The MoD also has a track record of gerrymandering the accident figures the most blatant example of this was the decision (unpublicised) taken in 1990 to end publication of Category 3 accidents (since that time only information on Cat 5 and 4 out of the defined Cat 1-5 occurrences is publicised).

 Nor is the MoD's sensitivity confined to recent years. Astonishingly, although aircraft accidents caused by low flying have been of major concern, with innumerable Parliamentary questions asked, for over 20 years much information on this comparatively mundane topic are still classified as too secret to reveal!

League scores victory in air accident investigation - 11-03-97

See also Media strangley silent below

 Celtic League General Secretary, Bernard Moffatt, is "shocked but delighted" at the move which follows 15 years of campaigning on the use of Celtic countries for military exercise. It is the first time he has known such a thing to happen.

 Celtic League research into Hawk safety has revealed a disturbingly bad comparison with Finnish hawks which have a different specification and ,overall, fly in much worse conditions than the RAF models that fly at "minimum height" over the Welsh countryside. the Finns have lost 7 (13%) as compared to the RAF's 20%. This figure does not include the RAF's non-total loss statistics.

 In February of last year, there was a fatal accident with a Hawk jet at RAF Valley (Anglesey). An inquest revealed that a vital linkage to the control surfaces of the aircraft had not been connected. This has been followed by the news that RAF Hawks were grounded in February following the discovery of dangerous cracks in the hydraulic control unit in an aircraft see below). 

British Defence 'Hacks' Strangely Silent as Top Gun Base Grounds Major Export Earner - 12-02-97

 The issue generated little interest in the mainstream British media. It was, however, of more than passing interest to the Celtic League which, for over twelve months now, has been trying to seek information about maintenance and safety standards for the RAF Hawks.

 The aircraft operates extensively from their base at Valley in north Wales. They also use a base in the Isle of Man and other airfields and weapons firing ranges throughout Wales. The Celtic League believe that their operations pose a threat to the population of these areas. Over 20% of the aircraft that the RAF operate have been lost in accidents, whilst the MoD's bizarre method of categorising accidents helps to conceal much greater problems.

 The incident with the Hawk trainer is part of growing evidence that safety standards within the RAF are lax. Standards and maintenance problems, for the British military, were highlighted only ten days ago when a British TV documentary alleged pilots killed in the Kintyre Chinook accident, in which 27 died, had taken out increased insurance. The Hawk, a British Aerospace product, is sold world wide by the British government and featured in many of the arms deals negotiated in the days of the Thatcher government. The warplane is sold to all manner of despotic regimes and is used in its military role against the civil population of East Timor by Indonesia. The Indonesian regime currently has pilots training on the aircraft at Valley - doubtless morale amongst trainees has dropped somewhat in the past few days.

 Despite the aircraft's continuing problems, its value as a Defence commodity to the United Kingdom (a $1 billion contract with Australia is currently being negotiated) ensured that, last week, the mainstream British media and its Defence correspondents, usually only too willing to sing the aircraft's praises, were strangely silent.

 It was left to the Welsh regional paper, the "Western Mail", to focus several articles on the issue which reported concerns voiced about safety by the Celtic League and Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalist Party.

 J.B. Moffatt - General Secretary