RAF fighter jet nearly collided with UFO in Newcastle airspace
A report from the British Airprox Board has been made public. It describes an incident in Newcastle airspace in November last year involving an aircraft and an ‘unknown object’.
The crew of a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft, RAF Atlas, noticed a moving object on the right side of their aircraft at 1 p.m. on November 16. In Tyne and Wear they were flying over Currock Hill, thenorthernecho.co.uk reports .
The object, which crew members initially mistook for a drone, then flew by the cockpit windows, just a few meters from the wingtip.
The crew, who were taking part in a training exercise, characterized the object as circular, dark in color, and having a hollow center (like a doughnut). The object had a diameter of only 1 to 1.5 meters.
The British Air Accidents Inquiry Board determined that the high altitude at which the incident occurred and the physical description of the object were such that it could not determine the nature of the object unknown.
In its report, the commission also concluded that “providence had played a major role in the incident and/or that there was a definite risk of collision”.
The council warned that the incident carried a high risk of collision, as there was a distance of less than a foot between the two planes at times.
The board explained the events: “The Atlas pilot said he had just completed his instrument approach training at Newcastle and was climbing to head for Humberside. »
“After the last approach, they were cleared to climb to FL90. During the climb they received radar vectors from Newcastle ATC before being cleared to proceed to Humberside. »
“During one of the radar vectors, on a left turn passing roughly south at FL75, one of the cockpit crew members alerted the rest of the crew to the presence of a drone that was in front and just to the right of the nose. »
“The other crew members then saw the object passing rapidly on the right side. The crew did not have time to react”.
It was noted that, if the plane had not been turning at the time, the risk of collision with the UFO would have been very high.
