Planes in near miss in skies over Perthshire

Risk of collision was ‘high’ as pilots were not receiving radar service

Two light aircraft in the skies above Perthshire were heading towards each other just 100ft apart, an official probe has heard.

One of the pilots assessed the risk of collision as “high,” a report released at the weekend said.

The incident happened on June 30 at around 11.35am when a Cessna 172 (C172) had just left Perth.

The pilot then saw a Cessna 152 (C152) travelling in the opposite direction. He managed to take avoiding action and estimated that the two aircraft passed each other 100-200ft apart.

The C172 pilot assessed the risk of collision as “high”.

The C152’s pilot was a student returning to Perth, but had not yet changed to the Perth radio frequency, and did not see the C172 until it was abeam, and too late to take avoiding action.

“He heard it before he saw it, by which time it was already abeam and too late to take any avoiding action. He assessed the risk of collision as ‘medium’,” said the report.

The UK Airprox Board – which investigates near misses – noted that neither pilot was receiving a radar service.

“Unfortunately, the circumstances were such that both pilots were on different frequencies at the time of the incident, and so were not aware of the other’s presence via the radio telephony,” said the board.

“Additionally, neither aircraft was fitted with a collision warning system (CWS), yet both aircraft had transponders; had either been fitted with a CWS, they would have received a warning about the other.”