Copter and jet 20sec from crash

A helicopter was as little as 20sec away from colliding with a military jet near Aberdeen.

An official probe into the incident has blasted war game planners over the reported near miss.

The investigation was launched after a Sikorsky S92 was returning from an offshore rig to Aberdeen on November 14 cruising at a height of 2,000ft.

But at 5.47pm and about 60 miles east of the city the helicopter pilot was alerted by air traffic control to a fast-jet descending from 10,000ft.

This was soon updated by control to say the Hawk aircraft was now at 2,000ft heading directly towards them. A controller immediately issued an avoiding action turn to the north.

While in the turn, the helicopter crew observed the fast-jet's navigation lights and their cockpit Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) issued a 20sec alert.

The helicopter pilot assessed the risk of collision as “medium”. In the Aberdeen controller's report to the UK Airprox Board, which investigates near misses, the S92 pilot said that his TCAS showed the aircraft to have come within 300ft vertically and two nautical miles away on the same level but, with a closing speed of 700 knots, “within 20-48sec of a collision."

The Hawk was part of an exercise which involved several other military aircraft and was being controlled by Blackdog based at RAF Scampton in Licolnshire.

The board said the main cause of the Airprox was that the Hawk pilot had been tasked into the Aberdeen airspace and had flown into conflict with the S92.

The board commended the Aberdeen controller for his “prompt action in helping to resolve the conflict".

The board were told that a safety investigation had been convened by the RAF to review the incident and made recommendations to ensure that the mistakes were not repeated.