Air near misses lead to return of scrutiny group

Feb 6 2008 by Paul James, The Journal

A SERIES of near misses involving military aircraft flying over Northumberland has led to the reforming of a group which scrutinises RAF activity.

It has been two years since the last meeting of the Inter Authority Liaison Group on Low Flying Military Aircraft, but four incidents since then have led to its revival.

It has now been decided that an annual meeting will be held to review issues and decide future aims. The group can also be brought together quickly in case of an emergency or if serious concerns emerge.

The most recent incident was in October last year when a passenger plane came close to a military jet about 40 miles north-east of Newcastle Airport.

In November 2006, two military planes came within 30ft of a head-on collision while on manoeuvres north of Alnwick, in Northumberland.

In July that year, an Eastern Airways flight from Durham Tees Valley to Aberdeen was just north of Newcastle Airport when it came within 500ft of colliding with a pair of RAF Tornados on a training exercise.

And in May 2006, an Eastern Airways Saab 2000 craft and an RAF Tornado sparked an alert 25 miles north of the airport.

Chairman of the group and leader of Northumberland County Council, Peter Hillman, said: “Low Flying issues remain a great concern of mine, and although the group has not met in some time I felt that, in the light of recent incidents, it was an appropriate time to re-group.”

The group, made up of local authorities across North-East England and the Scottish Borders and the Ministry of Defence, was originally established in the early 1990s after concern about the amount of low-flying military aircraft in Northumberland.

Coun Hillman added: “Over a period of years the Ministry of Defence has moved to provide information which is widely available, both publicising low flying activity by date and time, but also by producing annual reports detailing low flying activity and the methods available for the public to raise concerns or to complain.

“This has been appreciated by the group and we feel that our role now is to monitor the situation on a regular basis and liaise when necessary should an event occur.”

Carol Bell, RAF Regional Community Relations Officer, said: “The IAWG has worked extremely closely with the MoD to help alleviate concerns raised in the public domain regarding military low flying within the North of England and the Scottish Borders. The period of this partnership has seen significant changes to the way low flying is controlled and monitored across the whole of the UK, and greater openness about MoD activities.”