Northamptonshire planes near-miss: Student pilot 'commended'

An aerobatics plane carrying out a "looping manoeuvre" forced a student pilot to take "swift action" to avoid a mid-air collision.

A report by the UK Airprox Board found the safety of a Prefect and an Extra 300 aircraft was "compromised".

It "commended" the Prefect's student pilot for climbing 500ft (152m) to avoid danger during the near-miss over Northamptonshire.

The report said the Extra 300 had a communication device turned off.

At about 13:10 BST on 19 July, the Prefect reported it was flying at about 3,000ft (900m) three nautical miles miles south of Kettering, when another plane performed a wing-over or looping manoeuvre in front of him.

"They presumed the other pilot did not know they were in the vicinity because it came up from below and appeared directly in front of their aircraft," the report said.

The incident was reported to Cranwell air traffic control in Lincolnshire, whose controllers could not see anything on their radar and therefore "assumed the other aircraft was not transponding".

The Extra 300 pilot was part of a four-plane close formation team.

He said his transponder, which produces a response when radio contact is made by air traffic control, had been set to "standby".

This procedure has been changed to ensure all four aircraft communicate throughout their flights, the report said.

"Because the Extra 300 was not squawking nor communicating with an ANSP [air navigation service provider], lookout remained the only barrier available to the avoidance of a MAC [mid-air collision]," the report said.

"The swift actions of the student pilot are to be commended for ensuring the loss of safe separation did not progress to a MAC."

It concluded it was a Category B risk, which means "the safety of the aircraft may have been compromised".

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