Mr. Kevin Humphreys:

We would not necessarily agree with the statement read at the last meeting when we were present in the Gallery. Of course the most crucial points are take-off and landing, which is where the aeroplane makes contact with the earth again.

The international data show that the most common cause of accidents is loss of control in flight. This is where the aeroplane goes out of control at high altitude and crashes, like Air France Flight 447 or the accident involving Colgan Air Flight 3407 in the US.

It is important to note that we are a safety regulatory body. It is the safety of the fare-paying passenger we are concerned with, not necessarily the interests of the airline or labour groups within that activity. We dedicate our oversight to the fare-paying passenger. The contention that aeroplanes mostly have accidents at take-off and landing is not necessarily correct.

The old limit for night flights was 11 hours and 45 minutes, which has been reduced to 11 hours. It is an effort to compromise so the reductions have taken place, as Captain Courtney noted. With regard to multiple take-offs, we must remember that in Ireland, we regulate an airline that flies as far as Florida and one that flies from Galway to the Aran Islands, so we cannot have the same requirements for each operation. Someone going to the Aran Islands might do nine or ten take-offs and landings, and that has been limited. In effect, this amendment to Subpart Q has taken every part into consideration. There are no absolutes with safety and one is always trying to improve the situation, and that is what we are trying to do. That is what this does and we support it, as do all the other aviation authorities, with some caveats.