Air crash pilots 'did not see each other'

The two pilots in a mid-air collision which killed five people either did not see each other or had no time to take effective avoiding action, an accident report said.

By The Newsroom

Published 7th Dec 2010, 12:06 BST

Updated 7th Dec 2010, 12:07 BST

A contributory factor in the accident, which happened close to Coventry Airport on the morning of August 17, 2008, was that "insufficient or inaccurate information was provided to the two pilots", the report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

The flight-landing sequence plan prepared for the flights by the aerodrome controller (ADC) at Coventry Airport was based on an "incomplete understanding" of the nature of the flight of the Cessna light aircraft involved and was "unlikely to have been successful", the report added.

By the time the risk of a collision between the Cessna and the home-built Rand Robinson KR-2 light aircraft was identified, it was "too late to devise an effective method of resolving the situation".

The report said an eyewitness to the collision had said the left wing of the Cessna apparently passed "directly through" the Rand KR-2.

Coventry Airport