Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Plane collision near-miss during training flight over Perth

Both pilots said the risk of collision was 'high'.

Perth Airport. Image: Gareth Jennings/DC Thomson
Perth Airport. Image: Gareth Jennings/DC Thomson

Two planes narrowly missed each other over Perth in an incident where both pilots said the risk of collision was “high”.

The sun dazzled one of the pilots and the separation between the two planes was estimated as little as 50 feet vertically and 100 feet horizontally.

The UK Airprox Board, which investigates near misses, gave the event its second highest rating and said the actions of one of the pilots, who increased separation at the last minute, “may have averted a far more serious outcome”.

The incident happened on December 5 at 3.32pm when a Diamond DA42 Twin Star and a Piper PA-28 Cherokee were both coming in to land.

Pilots said collision risk was ‘high’ after near miss over Perth

The DA42 pilot said they were on a training sortie returning to Perth.

Perth radio informed them there were two other aircrafts in the circuit so they did an overhead join.

While on the downwind leg, they thought that a slower aircraft was in front of them so they slowed down.

While descending and passing about 900ft, the student who was seated in the back, reported the PA28 in their 11 o’clock position, slightly above them and about 100ft in front. It was initiating a turn onto the final approach, said the report.

The pilot assessed the risk of collision as “high”.

The PA28 pilot said they were flying their last circuit and intending to land. They heard on the radio that a DA42 was joining the circuit. When they were on the downwind leg, the sun ahead was almost level with them at circuit height.

“They were dazzled by the sun and could not identify the exact location of the DA42 ahead,” said the report.

“[The pilot of the PA28] realised they had cut in front  of the [pilot of the DA42]…..The pilot assessed the risk of collision as ‘high’.”

Pilot’s last-minute actions ‘may have averted a far more serious outcome’

The board said there were “some apparent inconsistencies with the accounts” of both pilots.

“However, members noted that the low sun had hindered the PA28 pilot’s vision, and suggested that it would have been most prudent indeed for them to have made a call on the radio to have ascertained the position of the DA42 if they had been unsure, prior to having made the turn onto final,” the report said.

“Whilst appreciating that the pilot of the PA28 may not have expected the DA42 pilot to have flown such a wide circuit, members agreed that the pilot of the PA28 had not complied with the correct circuit  procedure in that they had not conformed with the existing pattern of traffic.

“In further consideration of the PA28 pilot’s turn onto final, members were in agreement that they had ‘cut-in’ in front of the DA42 and had not conformed with, nor had effectively avoided, aircraft in the circuit.

“Members were in agreement that the pilot of the PA28 had not been aware  of the position of the DA42 and had not executed the circuit procedure correctly.

“Although the separation at closest point of approach could not be determined, members were in agreement that safety had not been assured and that the situation had presented a risk of collision.

“It was agreed that the actions of the pilot of the DA42, which had increased separation at the last minute, may have averted a far more serious outcome.

“As such, the board assigned Risk Category B to this event.”

Conversation