To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will obtain a definitive statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of the time scale for (a) equipping all newly constructed aircraft used by British carriers with water-based fire-suppression systems and (b) the completion on a retro-fit basis of existing aircraft used by British carriers with water-based fire-suppression systems;(2) if he will obtain an estimate from the Civil Aviation Authority of the cost of retro-fitting B747 aircraft with a water-based fire-suppression system; and if he will make a statement;(3) if the Civil Aviation Authority will ensure that the case for providing passengers in British-registered aircraft with protection from toxic fumes and gases together with irritant smoke in aviation fire-related accidents will not be influenced or delayed by the desire to gain international agreement on this subject; and if he will make a statement;(4) if he will ascertain from the Civil Aviation Authority why the authority's "Smokehoods : Net Safety Benefit Analysis" gives credit for floor-level lighting in circumstances of heavy irritant smoke, in the light of research undertaken by the Federal Aviation Authority purporting to show its ineffectiveness in such situations.

I have drawn the hon. Member's questions to the attention of the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority and I have asked the chairman to write to him.