Military ATC fuckup almost causes collision between British plane and US fighter jets

[Bob The Knob]

[t]https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/834/cpsprodpb/C3AF/production/_97059005_englandlakenheath9762407.png[/t]

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-40703042[/url]
[quote]Two US fighter jets and an RAF tanker aircraft came within seconds of a mid-air crash, a report has revealed.

The pilot of the RAF Voyager tanker claimed one of the US F-15s flew as close as 50m (160ft) before roaring past to avoid a collision.

The tanker pilot claimed he could the feel turbulence from the F15 flying at 402mph as it boosted its speed.

The Airprox Board blamed the near-miss on a military air traffic controller becoming distracted by a phone call. [/quote]

[thomasfn]

It still amazes me that this is even possible. I mean, there's alot of sky up there, isn't the chance of two planes getting close to each other incredibly minor?

[Orkel]

[QUOTE=thomasfn;52502399]It still amazes me that this is even possible. I mean, there's alot of sky up there, isn't the chance of two planes getting close to each other incredibly minor?[/QUOTE]

Yes, but there's also alot of planes up there.

[bull3tmagn3t]

[QUOTE=thomasfn;52502399]It still amazes me that this is even possible. I mean, there's alot of sky up there, isn't the chance of two planes getting close to each other incredibly minor?[/QUOTE]

[url]https://www.flightradar24.com[/url]

[mastermaul]

[QUOTE=thomasfn;52502399]It still amazes me that this is even possible. I mean, there's alot of sky up there, isn't the chance of two planes getting close to each other incredibly minor?[/QUOTE]

You have to remember it's not like a video game where you just fly by sight wherever you want. All these planes have pre-determined flight plans that could come into conflict with each other if something went wrong. Also, things like landing strip approach vectors and major cities create bottlenecks for this sort of thing.

[Mr. Someguy]

[quote]The Airprox Board blamed the near-miss on a military air traffic controller becoming distracted by a phone call.[/quote]

A phone call? He's got better things to do, like prevent aircraft from coming too close to each other so the pilot's don't have to stop what they are doing and take evasive action to avoid a crash.

[mutant]

The phone call wasn't what fucked them up here though it didn't help. Misunderstanding what the US pilots were saying their path was seems like a more likely cause.

[TheTalon]

[QUOTE=thomasfn;52502399]It still amazes me that this is even possible. I mean, there's alot of sky up there, isn't the chance of two planes getting close to each other incredibly minor?[/QUOTE]

Well, there's a lot of planes, and all those planes are accumulating at specific points on the ground, and traveling to those points via airways which are basically just waypoints. There would be collisions every day if aircraft didn't use different altitudes depending on the direction they're travelling

[Shirt.]

[QUOTE=bull3tmagn3t;52502628][url]https://www.flightradar24.com[/url][/QUOTE]

I like how you can tell how developed a nation is by seeing how many planes there are over it.

[Jon27]

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;52503251]A phone call? He's got better things to do, like prevent aircraft from coming too close to each other so the pilot's don't have to stop what they are doing and take evasive action to avoid a crash.[/QUOTE]

ATC's especially Centre controllers do have to take phone calls, though. That's one of the ways they transfer aircraft between areas and talk to companies and dispatch etc. The thing is usually a controller can put their 200-300kt aircraft in nice positions where they won't be needing to take evasive action anytime in the length of the phone call. When it's a Strike Eagle doing 0.8 Mach and manoeuvring much more erratically than an airliner that's a whole different story.

[FFStudios]

[QUOTE=MuTAnT;52503603]The phone call wasn't what fucked them up here though it didn't help. Misunderstanding what the US pilots were saying their path was seems like a more likely cause.[/QUOTE]

that's not even a thing that can happen. there are international standards for radio communication between aircraft. there is absolutely zero possibility that two military aircraft could be misunderstood by ATC.