Heathrow expansion: Risk of plane crash ‘was hidden by airport panel’

'Risk': The Airports Commission came in for criticism
Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Britain's Airports Commission was today accused of a “cover-up” over plane crash dangers to Londoners from a third runway at Heathrow.

The panel came under fire after it emerged that it rejected “risk maps” showing the increased likelihood of an aircraft crash around London airports if expansion went ahead.

Confidential documents and emails obtained by the Standard also showed the commission, which backed a third runway, got the title of an independent study on aircraft crashes changed to remove the word “crash”.

In its final report, the panel included findings from the Health and Safety Laboratory study stating that the background rate for crashes would be virtually unchanged with another runway.

But it failed to mention the HSL conclusions that the likelihood of a crash on take-off or landing increased by up to 60 per cent with a three-runway Heathrow and doubled under one scenario with a second Gatwick runway.

Highlighting concerns about “contradictions” in the commission’s conclusions, Wimbledon Tory MP Stephen Hammond said: “[It] looks like a cover-up of the crash risk. Londoners need to have all the facts about the safety of the proposed expansion out in the open.” The Mayor’s aviation adviser, Daniel Moylan, said the emails were “truly shocking”.

The row over possible plane crashes, which are very rare, erupted ahead of Cabinet ministers meeting on Thursday to discuss airport expansion.

One option they are understood to be considering is delaying a decision until after the mayoral election in May, and ordering more work on air quality.

Tory mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith, who has vowed to resign if the Government backs a third runway, signalled he may not quit if the Government asks Heathrow and Gatwick to “prove their plans can be reconciled with legal air quality commitments”.

Some Cabinet ministers are believed to still be pushing for a firm “direction” of support for a bigger Heathrow. The airports panel commissioned a report by the HSL into crash rates if Heathrow or Gatwick expanded.

The HSL experts offered to draw up contour maps, or a “heat” map showing transition from “cool” low risk to “hot” high risk of plane crash likelihoods. But this appeared to have sparked alarm at the commission.

An email from one official, whose named has been redacted, to the HSL on February 17, 2015, states: “Having discussed with colleagues... we are extremely reluctant to use risking mapping as an output.”

The maps would have shown which local communities were more likely to be affected by any aircraft crash. But Londoners were not given this information — and have also not been told by Heathrow which areas could be flown over by planes using a third runway. A confidential draft of the HSL report, dated May 6, 2015, also showed the title as “Assessment of the aircraft crash likelihood around Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with and without runway expansion.” An email from a commission official on May 19 asks for the title to be changed to “Module 14. Operational Efficiency: Crash Risk Analysis”. The next day, an email from the commission to the HSL asks for the word “crash” to be changed to “ground”.

The HSL study was published on the Airports Commission website. The commission stressed its final report had been subject to extensive analysis and consultation. A spokesman said: “The final Airports Commission report and the business case underpinning its recommendation took the points raised in this [HSL] report into account.”

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