French fighter jets get too close to easyJet plane
28.08.08
An easyJet plane flying from Scotland to Bristol Airport was forced to take evasive action after two French fighter jets strayed into its airspace, the Scotsman reports. The Airbus A319 passenger plane operating flight number EZY395 from Inverness to Bristol with 7 crew and 124 passengers on board was seven to eight miles from Inverness Airport when the pair of Mirage 2000 jets taking part in a major military exercise flew into the airspace.
The incident happened on 20 September last year at 2100 feet over the Moray Firth, but an aircraft proximity report has only just been published as it took time to identify the fighter jets involved. At their closest, the easyJet plane and the fighter jets were 2.6 nautical miles apart.
A report by the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) said the Mirages, which had been taking part in a training exercise, had taken off from RAF Lossiemouth and were trying to enter the Tain bombing range when the incident occurred at 10:21. The easyJet pilot did not see the French planes but received an ‘avoiding action’ instruction from air traffic control.
The UKAB said it was concerned the Mirages had flown within 10 nautical miles of Inverness Airport without talking to the air traffic controller there. However, the board unanimously found there had been no risk of collision between the aircraft.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book a airport hotel bristol or airport car parking bristol at the lowest price, click on these links to two great bristol airport car parking and bristol airport hotel price comparison pages
