Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 15 Apr 2003

Vol. 565 No. 3

Written Answers. - Ministerial Transport.

Joe Sherlock

Question:

122 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Defence the number of occasions in the past five years in respect of the Gulfstream IV jet on which the aircraft has been unavailable as a result of mechanical failure or problems; the date, the location of the aircraft, the nature of the mechanical problem or failure and the time period for which the aircraft was out of service as a result in respect of each occasion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10913/03]

Joe Sherlock

Question:

123 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Defence the number of occasions in the past five years in respect of the Beechcraft Kingair on which the aircraft has been unavailable as a result of mechanical failure or problems; and the date, the location of the aircraft, the nature of the mechanical problem or failure and the time period for which the aircraft was out of service as a result in respect of each occasion. [10914/03]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith):

The following table sets out the mission requests and missions completed in 2000 to 2002 by the Gulfstream IV jet.

Year	MissionRequests	MissionsCompleted	%Availability
2000	152.00	146.00	96.05%
2001	124.00	120.00	96.77%
2002	135.00	134.00	99.26%

There were 11 specific missions which were not completed by the Gulfstream IV due to unscheduled non-availability of the aircraft. Specific details for the period prior to 2000 are not retained on this issue.

Date	Location	Nature of Problem	Time Frame
3 Feb 2000	Baldonnel	Electrical Power Relay	2 Days
4 Feb 2000	Baldonnel	Electrical Power Relay	Included above
19 April 2000	Baldonnel	Converter unserviceable	2 Days
20 April, 2000	Baldonnel	Converter unserviceable	Included above
9 October 2000	No record available
15 October, 2000	Baldonnel	Damage to leading edge of the port wing	12 Days
2 February, 2001	Approach to Dublin Airport	Steer by wire failure – no nose wheel steering available on landing	1 Day
8 February, 2001	Approach to Dublin Airport	Steer by wire failure – no nose wheel steering available on landing	5 Days
11 February, 2001	Jet Aviation Basel – Switzerland	Repeat of above problem	Included above
8 November, 2001	Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, DC	Nose wheel steering failure	9 hours
15 December, 2002	Baldonnel	Electrical problem	1 day

The data requested by the Deputy in relation the GIV for 1998 and 1999 and the Beechcraft KingAir aircraft is not maintained in a manner in which it can be easily extracted. Accordingly, I have asked the Air Corps to examine the matter further and I will contact the Deputy in this regard as soon as possible.