Microlight and glider in near-miss over Kinross

A glider and a microlight came “head to head” over Kinross, narrowly missing each other, an official report released at the weekend revealed.

Some members of the UK Airprox Board that investigates near misses, felt that a collision had only been avoided by “the bare minimum”.

The two aircraft missed each other by just around 33 feet when the incident happened on April 8.

The Thruster T600N microlight pilot had just taken off from Balado Airfield with a student and was intending to climb to a circuit height of 1,500ft.

He was still climbing when, at about 1,400 feet, a glider suddenly appeared immediately ahead.

“He rolled hard to port and the glider appeared to push hard forward into a dive. The glider passed slightly below and within about 10 metres to the starboard,” said the report.

“He tried to remain visual with it to see where it had gone but lost sight of it, so he routed back to the airfield, where he contacted the ground station.

“The radio happened to be manned by a retired air traffic controller, who then found the call sign of the glider.

He commented that Balado airfield was marked on the aviation charts, yet still gliders kept flying through the circuit without radio contact.

“He (the microlight pilot) assessed the risk of collision as ‘high’.”

The pilot of the Shark glider said that he was flying south-west of Kinross.

He was “very surprised” to see a powered aircraft heading east and at the same level. He promptly put the glider into a dive and banked away from the other aircraft.

The board were told that the incident triggered detailed discussions between the gliding operation at Portmoak and the Microlight Academy at Balado.

Both groups now have a much better appreciation of the other’s operation. Glider pilots flying from Portmoak are now briefed to make radio calls.

The board said the microlight came “head-to-head” with the glider and took quick avoiding action.

“Other than ensuring a robust lookout at all times, the board thought that there was very little he could have done differently,” it said.

“The board noted the glider pilot had been struggling to find lift and had started to deploy his sustainer engine. He reported conducting lookout but members wondered whether deploying his sustainer had been a distraction.”