Investigators critical over near miss
28.11.06
An RAF plane flew so close to a passenger jet leaving Durham Tees Valley airport that the crew 'was virtually able to see the other pilot', an investigation has revealed. The investigation by aviation authorities has concluded that the planes were not in danger of colliding, but said it was more 'by accident than design that the incident in July was not more serious.
The bmi flight to Heathrow had only just taken off when its crew received a warning on the plane's collision avoidance system that another aircraft was in its vicinity. The crew then saw an RAF Jaguar heading across its path at high speed at the same altitude at which they were flying.
In a report on the incident, both military and civilian air traffic controllers were criticised for allowing the two planes to come within 400 feet of each other just south of the airport. The report by the UK Airprox Board says: 'The board was concerned that this incident was another case where a military pilot had flown his aircraft close enough to a civilian airliner to cause a TCAS RA (a collision avoidance warning), although in his opinion avoiding it by a sufficient margin not to compromise safety.'
The board's investigation revealed that the bmi plane's pilot had been taking air traffic control instructions from Durham Tees Valley Airport, but that this had not warned him of the Jaguar's presence. There were also concerns that RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire had not provided information to the airport that its aircraft would be operating in the area.
The report added: 'In this case, although the Jaguar pilot had seen the airliner, it was the unanimous opinion of the board that he had not given it a wide enough berth.'
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