Planes' near miss put student at risk - report

A near miss between two aeroplanes left the safety of a student pilot compromised, a report has found.

The planes came within 30m (98ft) of each other above Boreham, near Chelmsford in Essex, on 21 June 2024.

UK Airprox Board said a combination of vigilance from the student and a "late sighting" from the second aircraft helped to avoid a collision.

The safety of those onboard was put at risk but evasive action taken by both parties was sufficient, the authority concluded.

Its report said the student, who was not flying the plane, was being taught how to climb and descend onboard a Cessna 152 (C152).

The student alerted their pilot to another plane, named DA40, at 09:06 BST and they realised it was going to pass "within less than 50m (164ft)".

"[The pilot] took control and put their aircraft into a steep left turn to increase the spacing," the report said.

The authority said DA40, a Diamond DA40 Diamond Star plane, was in the cruise phase of a flight to Colchester "when, out of nowhere, a blue Cessna appeared" in its path.

The pilot made a left turn to avoid conflict, assessing the risk of collision as "medium".

It was later found the planes were travelling at altitudes of 2,200ft and 2,100ft respectively - about 30m difference.

They were also operating on different radio frequencies in a "very busy" airspace, with C152 not using any aircraft detection equipment or traffic service.

The DA40 pilot was noted in the report for their "good lookout" which helped them to spot C152 "at a late stage".

"Despite the late sighting by both pilots, the evasive action taken by both the DA40 and C152 pilots combined had been sufficient," the report's author stated.

"However, members agreed that safety had been reduced much below the norm and that the collision risk had not been removed entirely."

The authority assigned a risk category B to the incident - the second most serious level that states "safety may have been compromised".

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