On Monday 19 June 1972 Michael Heseltine told the House of Commons that he had directed a Court of Inquiry, an "ad hoc" tribunal popularly called a "public inquiry", to investigate and report on the accident. Public inquiries bypassed the usual British practice whereby the Accidents Investigation Branch (AIB) investigated and reported on air crashes, and were held only in cases of acute public interest. On 14 July, the High Court Judge Sir Geoffrey Lane was appointed to preside over the inquiry as Commissioner.