 Military jets have narrowly missed crashing into passenger planes |
The past four years have seen nine recorded near-misses between military and civilian aircraft over north eastern Britain and the North Sea, according to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). BBC News Online looks at how mid-air collisions were narrowly avoided in each case: 5 February 2004: The crew of a helicopter leaving an oil rig en route to Aberdeen had a close encounter with a RAF jet. According to investigators, they "became aware of a roaring noise coupled by, a very short time later, the sudden onset of harsh and severe turbulence. "The commander grabbed the controls and looked across the cockpit to the left in time to see the co-pilot's windscreen and quarter light filled with what he believed to be the rear section of a Tornado aircraft in a steeply banked turn away from the helicopter at a range of some 50 feet." 1 October 2003: An Airbus A319 passenger plane approaching Newcastle airport was told to take avoiding action for a military aircraft. 24 June 2003: A Jetstream 32 passenger plane flying from Teesside to Aberdeen was ordered to turn while south of Aberdeen to avoid two military jets. 19 June 2003: A small Learjet plane was told to take avoiding action because of the "unknown intentions" of nearby military aircraft. 16 June 2003: There was a near miss between a F100 aircraft leaving Teesside for Amsterdam and three unknown fast jet aircraft. 2 July 2002: An Avro civil transport plane going to Newcastle came within 100 feet of a RAF Jaguar aircraft. Before avoiding action could be taken, the Avro crew heard a jet engine noise from another aircraft and the co-pilot "saw him in a flash passing underneath while in a steep climb". The UK Airprox Board, which monitors near misses, described it as "one of the most serious incidents they had seen", the AAIB said. 22 April 2002: A Dash 8 plane carrying three crew and 16 passengers leaving Newcastle for Norway came within an estimated 3,450 feet of two Sea Harriers on a practice interception as part of air defence training. The report said the pilots of the Harriers had wrongly identified their target and broke off as soon as they recognised it as a civilian aircraft. They had not realised their mistake until they came within visual range. 13 August 2001:A twin-engined Fokker 50 passenger plane had a near miss with a US Air Force F15E fighter jet south east of Teesside Airport. 20 March 2000: The crew of a Shorts twin-engined aircraft flying from Aberdeen to Newcastle were told by the radar controller to take action to avoid a RAF Tornado F3 which was estimated to be as close as 100 feet above and 300 feet to the side of it. None of the crew in either plane saw the other aircraft until after the point of closest approach.
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"They've clearly identified a potential problem in this area"
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[We] became aware of a roaring noise coupled by, a very short time later, the sudden onset of harsh and severe turbulence 