EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Order applies the provisions of section 40 of the Civil Aviation Act 1949 to civil aircraft belonging to or exclusively employed in the service of the Crown (which would include Concorde aircraft falling within those categories and the aircraft of the Board of Trade's Civil Aviation Flying Unit) Subsection (1) of section 40 precludes actions for trespass or nuisance by reason only of the flight of aircraft over property at a height above the ground which is reasonable in the circumstances or the ordinary incidents of such flight, so long as the provisions referred to in the subsection are complied with. Subsection (2) of that section imposes liability without proof of negligence, intention, or other cause of action, on the owner of the aircraft for material loss or damage caused to any person or property on land or water by, or by a person in, or an article or person falling from, an aircraft in flight.