Air traffic controllers blamed for mid-air near-miss involving two trainee pilots

AIR traffic controllers have been blamed for a near-miss involving two trainee pilots from a Lincolnshire air base.

According to a new report, controllers at RAF Cranwell gave the wrong information to three aircraft from the base, as well as a foreign plane.

The planes, which were queuing to land on the same heading were then unsure of their positions, with the foreign aircraft coming in too early.

This then forced a King Air and a Grob Tutor – aircraft used by the military to get rookie pilots up to scratch – onto a collision course. At one point they were just 50ft apart and still heading in the same direction.

Details of the near-miss have been released by the UK Airprox Board, which looks into incidents on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority.

The report said: "The airprox had a combination of factors that included missed or misunderstood calls with some inaccurate traffic information and crews misidentifying other aircraft."

At one point the pilot of a different King Air not involved in the near-miss was told to continue on his path despite the foreign aircraft being in the way. The pilot was recorded as saying: "I'm not convinced, he's going in," before pulling back.

The report added: "It seemed plain that the tower controller had not realised that the foreign-twin had turned ahead of the second King Air until the latter pilot queried what it was doing.

"It was confusion over this craft that had been the catalyst for this airprox. The controller seemed to miss a lot of calls.

"The board agrees that incorrect traffic information led to a conflict between the King Air and Grob Tutor on final approach. The combined actions of both crews forestalled a collision."

The pilot of the white and blue King Air was carrying out a training flight at 500ft when it saw the Grob Tutor making a descent from 50ft directly above him. Both aircraft were on the same path.

The incident happened on November 30 last year, although details have only just been released.

The close encounter was given a category of B, the second-highest risk rating it could be given, as the "safety of the aircraft was compromised".

An RAF spokesman said: "Lessons have been learned from this incident and mechanisms put in place to ensure that air traffic staff are available at appropriate times to respond to surges."

The Echo previously reported how two of the same model aircraft being flown by learners from RAF Cranwell came within 50ft of crashing into each other in another incident. It was put down to problems contacting air traffic controllers.