Rig helicopter in ‘near miss’

A NORTH Sea helicopter pilot feared he would collide with a plane after a ‘relatively new’ air traffic controller failed to tell him it was flying nearby.

The Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma pilot had to take evasive action, according to a report by the UK Airprox Board, which investigates reported near misses.

The ‘inexperienced’ controller had thought a radio operator on the Britannia oil rig, about 130 miles off Aberdeen, would keep both aircraft informed of their proximity.

According to the helicopter pilot, the risk of collision with the plane, which was carrying out meteorological research work, had been ‘high’.

The aircraft passed within 300ft of each other on July 23 after the EC225 had been given clearance to land on the rig. The pilot of the BA146 plane said he did not believe there had been a collision risk.

The report concluded that both pilots had seen each other early and there had been no risk of a crash.