Near-miss horror at the Top Gun training school
FORMATION take- offs for fast jets used by the Red Arrows have been suspended after a heartstopping near miss at Britain’s ‘Top Gun’ pilot training base, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The urgent order was issued after a Hawk T2 aircraft malfunctioned and – as this incredible series of pictures shows – veered towards the two other jets with which it had taken off from RAF Valley in North Wales.
Eyewitnesses said the rogue Hawk missed the tail of the lead aircraft ‘by inches’ before narrowly avoiding the other plane.
The pilot, who was described as ‘deeply shaken’ by the experience, aborted the flight and managed to land safely, but the incident on January 9 has shocked instructors and trainee pilots at the base.
Since the scare, air investigators have been working frantically to find out what caused the Hawk to dramatically veer off course.
A source at the base on Anglesey said: ‘ The three aircraft were lined up on runway 31 in a one-two formation, the first jet middle front and the second jets behind left and behind right.
‘Just after take-off, the rear right Hawk encountered an unknown problem and veered left, missing the other aircraft by inches. I think it was only due to the pilot’s razor-sharp skills that a disaster was averted.
‘How the pilot got that Hawk to pass between the others when the gap was so narrow was incredible. Shortly afterwards the plane was taken apart. Hawks have to take off singly now to avoid any repetition of this incident.’
It is understood that an instructor was at the controls of the Hawk that malfunctioned, but that students were aboard the two other jets. RAF Valley, where Prince William was once stationed as a search-and-rescue pilot flying Sea King helicopters, is home to the RAF’s No 4 Flying Training School, which runs the ten-week Advanced Fast Jet Training course that prepares pilots to fly aircraft including the Typhoon and the F-35 Lightning.
Hawk jets have been used to train British pilots since 1976. The Hawk T2 version is powered by Rolls-Royce engines and has a top speed of 639mph. The fleet of 128 Hawk aircraft have LCD displays rather than conventional instrumentation and a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) intended to prevent mid-air crashes.
Manufactured by BAE Systems, the two-seater aircraft are flown by the Red Arrows and several foreign air forces.
The latest scare comes only months after teething problems with a new computer system grounded the £500 million fleet at RAF Valley for a week.
Last night a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘ An incident took place during a formation take-off that required a routine safety review.
‘As a temporary measure, Hawk T2 f ormation t ake- offs have been suspended while this review is ongoing.
‘ The aircraft involved landed normally and pilot training has not been affected.’