RAF Tornado in near-miss with plane
Report rules out pilot error
By David Ewen chief reporter
Published: 02/08/2012
A MILITARY jet narrowly missed colliding with a plane thought to be flown by American special forces, a report revealed today.
The RAF Tornado had taken off from Lossiemouth and was climbing through cloud at around 4,000ft when it speared between two Hercules-type C130 aircraft flying in line a mile apart.
The collision risk was rated A – the highest ahead of actual contact, and investigators concluded the primary cause was an “automatic pull up” generated by the Tornado’s terrain-following radar, rather than pilot error.
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