A Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) Hawker Hurricane was seconds away from a head-on mid-air collision, the latest report from the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) has revealed.
The incident took place at 1635hrs on June 26, 2022, between the warbird and a Piper PA-28 Cherokee 3nm northwest of Liss in Hampshire. The Hurricane was flying on a south-easterly track at 2,000ft, while the PA-28 was heading in the opposite direction at 1,900ft. The flying conditions at the time were described by the Hurricane pilot as being excellent, but somewhat bumpy due to high winds.
The PA-28 pilot was receiving a Basic Service from Farnborough Lower Airspace Radar Service (LARS) West, while the pilot of the World War Two fighter told the UKAB that the Farnborough LARS frequency seemed busy with other aircraft queuing for a service so they were monitoring various frequencies, including the aforementioned, to build an air-picture of what other aircraft were in the vicinity.
The report states: “Approximately 2nm west of Liss, whilst conducting a fuel check, they [Hurricane pilot] looked up from the fuel gauge to see a light-aircraft (Piper Cherokee or similar low-wing aircraft with tricycle undercarriage) slightly left of their 12 o'clock, at a similar level and head-on, at what was estimated to be 300m. [The Hurricane pilot] immediately took avoiding action by breaking right (they couldn't ‘bunt’ as negative G must be avoided in a Hurricane). The other aircraft didn't appear to react.” Indeed, the Cherokee pilot stated they did not see or know another aircraft was in close proximity.
The Hurricane pilot reflected that had they been receiving a Traffic Service, the threat might have been highlighted and concluded that, although a very late pick-up, what did avert a collision was that a lookout was maintained between checking elements of the fuel system.
A member of the Board with knowledge of the RAF’s No1 Group Air Staff Orders explained that ‘Pilots are to select an Air Traffic Service and use airspace that provides the maximum level of mid-air collision protection commensurate with the briefed task’. Members agreed that the Hurricane pilot had not complied with this order and may have been better served operating under a Traffic Service. It was also noted that the Hurricane’s Electronic Conspicuity (EC) device had not detected the PA-28 when it would have been expected to have alerted the pilot, and this was a contributory factor to the Airprox.
Members of the Board praised the PA-28 pilot’s persistence to obtain an Air Traffic Service (ATS) from the Farnborough LARS West controller, who was very busy at the time. The Board noted that no Traffic Information had been passed to the PA-28 pilot under the terms of the Basic Service that had been requested, and members suggested that a Traffic Service would have been more useful.
Under a Basic Service the controller was not required to follow the Cherokee’s progress. UK regulations state “the provider of a Basic Service is not required to monitor the flight, pilots should not expect any form of traffic information from a controller/FISO [Flight Information Service Officer].” However, they also state: “If a controller/FISO considers that a definite risk of collision exists, a warning shall be issued to the pilot… Controllers/FISOs clearly owe duty of care to flight crew, passengers, and the general public on the ground, in the delivery of an ATS. However, the depth and boundaries of this duty of care cannot be defined in advance for each specific scenario and situation, as they will vary.” The UKAB report states that between 1633:32 and 1635:35, the LARS controller was conducting almost continuous radio exchanges with other aircraft. It was concluded by the Board that: “In consideration of the timings of RT exchanges and actions of the controller, it was assessed that the controller had become aware of a potential conflict between the Hurricane and PA-28 during these exchanges with other traffic and had therefore not had an opportunity to pass Traffic Information on the Hurricane to the PA-28 pilot.”
The Board concluded that safety had been “much reduced” but that the “last-minute avoiding action by the Hurricane pilot had increased the separation and reduced – but not removed entirely – the risk of collision.”
This incident was not the only near miss involving a BBMF Hurricane last year. In July 2022, a drone pilot was arrested and charged after he flew the craft dangerously close to the World War Two fighter during a flypast over the Buxton Carnival in Derbyshire.