13 near-miss incidents for flights in region

Inattentive military pilots, hapless trainee air traffic controllers and wayward model aircraft are among the causes of a catalogue of incidents involving passenger airliners and other commercial aircraft flying in and out of Leeds Bradford, Humberside and Doncaster Robin Hood airports since the start of 2007, a study by the Yorkshire Post has revealed.

No actual collisions have taken place but of the 13 so-called "airprox" incidents – recorded whenever a pilot believes he is in danger of crashing into another plane – two have since been assessed as Category B incidents, and one at the highest level, Category A, meaning the safety of aircraft was compromised.

In the first, an Eastern Airways plane on a domestic flight from Humberside to Durham was descending over the Vale of York when it found itself heading into the path of an RAF Hawk jet. The airliner tried to swerve but as it did so the Hawk also changed course and continued into its path.

The airline pilot was forced to pull out of his descent until the danger had passed, later assessing the risk as "high". The aircraft came within a few hundred feet of collision.

Investigators concluded the RAF pilot had misunderstood his instructions and was swerving to avoid an entirely different aircraft. A report by the UK Airprox Board into the January 2007 incident states: "The Hawk crew's lack of appreciation of what was actually happening convinced (board) members safety was not assured by any means. The safety of these two aircraft had indeed been compromised."

The second Category B incident occurred one year later, when a cargo plane on a training flight to Doncaster came within a few hundred feet of a light aircraft which had not been in contact with local air traffic controllers. Cloudy conditions meant neither pilot saw each other until relatively late, but under emergency instructions from controllers the cargo plane was able to manoeuvre out of the way.

"Mindful of the close proximity, non-sightings by both crews, the late but robust manoeuvring by the (cargo plane) crew... the board concluded safety had indeed been compromised," investigators stated.

In the other airprox incidents it was assessed that no actual risk of collision had occurred due to the distance between the aircraft involved – though investigative reports reveal a wealth of issues that can go wrong when manoeuvring planes through the UK's busy skies.

In one incident involving a plane heading into Leeds Bradford Airport, the air traffic controller said he "had allowed himself to be distracted by talking to his colleagues" and was found to have not been monitoring the aircraft closely enough.

In another, the controller at Doncaster Robin Hood airport was "mentoring a new trainee" who failed to warn a departing Boeing 747 airliner about a helicopter in his path, forcing both to take evasive action.

And in a near-miss near Humberside, the cabin crew of an airliner were sent sprawling when their plane was forced into a sudden climb by two approaching RAF jets.

There have also been numerous incidents which did not involved commercial airliners – most recently when a private helicopter was at real risk of colliding with a model plane being flown by a model aircraft club member over Doncaster. The helicopter pilot was so furious following the Category B incident he landed in the field below and became embroiled in a furious altercation with the model aircraft owner.

The most serious near-miss over Yorkshire's skies occurred in March 2008, and received widespread attention although no commercial aircraft were involved.

An RAF Typhoon came desperately close to colliding with a private aircraft, with investigators classing the incident Category A – the highest.

Actual mid-air collisions between aircraft remain extremely rare. Between 1995 and 2004 there were seven fatal mid-air collisions worldwide involving large fixed-wing aeroplanes, resulting in 451 fatalities.

There has been no such accident in UK airspace since 1949.

A spokesman for the UK's air regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, said: " The number of airprox incidents involving commercial aircraft has significantly declined over the past 10 years, and in 2008 only two incidents in the whole of the UK were independently assessed as having a possible risk. This is out of over two million flights using UK airspace."

Air safety charity the General Aviation Safety Council agreed but said it was important high safety standards are maintained.

Chief executive Mike O'Donoghue said: "The fact we have not had an actual accident does not make us take this issue any less seriously but I think the record on this is pretty good. These incidents are usually a very long way short of a confliction actually happening."