Planes involved in a ‘near-miss’ over Spalding

Two aircraft were involved in a “near miss” incident over Spalding earlier this year, it has been revealed.

A Tutor plane came close to colliding with a PA28 in the skies above the town in February, with one pilot describing the incident as “medium risk” of collision.
It came just months after a £28million US Air Force F-15 crashed into a field in Weston Hills, close to the village’s primary school.
News of the “category B” near-miss over Spalding could reignite fears raised after the crash last October about military planes using the skies over South Holland as a training ground.
It is one of 15 “close call” incidents investigated nationally in the past five years, although 12 of these concluded there was no risk of collision.
And it is one of three in Lincolnshire this year – one a “category A” near miss which involved a Typhoon jet passing as close as 20ft to another aircraft.
Category A refers to incidents where there is the highest risk of collision.
The pilot of the RAF plane, which was flying at 350mph, was forced to take evasive action with only the length of a double-decker bus to spare between it and a Tucano training plane travelling at 161mph.
It happened on the approach to RAF Coningsby in March and promoted a review of procedures.
Another category B incident occurred in January above Cranwell, involving a King Air aircraft passing around 200m in front of a Tutor plane – with one pilot saying there had been a “high” risk of collision.
The incidents were reviewed by the Airprox (Air Proximity) Board.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said there are only a small number of air proximity reports each year.
He said: “We welcome all recommendations made in all Airprox reports, which are designed to ensure we learn the lessons of any incidents and do whatever we can to prevent them from happening again.”