Scotland/Alba - RAF low flying makes life 'intolerable'

This item from the Celtic League:

The owner of an equestrian establishment is suing the Ministry of
Defence for £100,000 after claiming that low-flying military aircraft
near her horse-breeding business have made life "intolerable".

Alyson King, 47, of Carsphairn, in South West Scotland told the Court
of Session in Edinburgh that animals at her stables were regularly
startled and bolted and several of the prize stock have been injured.


The area has already been at the centre of controversy over low flying
with allegations that jet fighter and military helicopters may have
been a contributory factor in the death of motorcycle ace, Steve Hislop,
although an inquest subsequently discounted such a link

The farm is in an area designated as a Low Flying Area (LFA). LFA
16 is located in South Scotland and includes the Borders Region, Dumfries
and Galloway and other counties up to and including those within the
central belt. The Royal Navy helicopter base at Prestwick, the QinetiQ
range facilities at West Freugh, and the Army training area at Kirkcudbright
are also located in the area. It has approximately 16,142 sq km (
6,232 sq mls) of airspace available for low flying training, some
9% of the total usable overland area of the UKLFS. In addition LFA
16 includes the Tactical Training Area 20T. In addition LFA16 is close
to the Army Field training centre at Otterburn, and it borders on
the Electronic Warfare Tactics range at RAF Spadeadam where there
is extensive military air activity by both fixed winged aircraft and
helicopters.

The owner alleges that the RAF planes are flying just above the tree-top
height, breaching the MoD's own guidelines for low-flying training
and committing up to 30 low fly incidents a month

The MoD assert they have rigid controls on low flying and in the past
have told the Celtic League the RAF provost unit deploy Skyguard mobile
radar to monitor for infringements. However 10 years ago we tackled
the MoD over low-flying complaints which at that time were registering
a staggering 5-6000 per year. We established that in the twenty year
period up to 1997 there were over 100,000 complaints from members
of the public. Despite Section 51 and 52 of the Air Force Act 1955
allowing for trial by Court Martial of aircrew for illegal low-flying
which causes nuisance the RAF/MoD have never used the provisions against
aircrew. The level of complaints has not markedly reduced over recent
years.

Several horse riders have been killed following incidents with low
flying jet aircraft or helicopters and the MOD did eventually commission
an inquiry (The link for the inquiry report has now been deleted from
the MoD web pages) but little practical steps have been taken to address
the issue.

Paradoxically areas of Scotland and Wales are used for low flying
by both RAF and overseas air forces because operational flying at
such levels is banned in several NATO countries. Some countries such
as the United States have virtually abandoned the practice preferring
instead to use strategically guided munitions or so called 'smart
bombs' which are dropped at high altitude. The RAF on the other hand
still operate mainly fighter-bomber types such as the Tornado, Harrier
and Hawk (trainer) which are well past their 'sell-by' date.

Related articles on Celtic News at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1793
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1581
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1560
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1540
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1498
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1321
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1303
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1155
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/719

Detail of LFA16 on MoD low flying web pages here:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/AirSafetyandAviation/LowFlying/LFAs/LowFlyingArea16.htm

J B Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League

08/06/08


The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works
to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a
broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights
human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on
socio-economic issues.

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