By Near-miss at Doncaster Sheffield Airport
It has come to light that a helicopter and an aeroplane narrowly avoided colliding in a near-miss at Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
The near-miss involved an R22 helicopter taking off, and a two seater aeroplane which was flying a circuit around the airport at a busy time. The incident has prompted an investigation by industry experts.
A passenger jet was also waiting to take off, and a second aeroplane was also flying circuits around the airport.
A report published by the UK Airprox Board said that the helicopter pilot was teaching a student and had been cleared to take off when his student spotted the plane below. A standards bulletin has now been issued to the airport and to all controllers reminding them about the need for traffic information about planes circling the airspace, and reminding them to be cautious around the point where the near miss happened which is used for departing helicopters. It has also been requested that the airport consider limiting the number of circling planes to one during busy periods, or when commercial traffic is departing.
The bulletin states that: “controllers should not be afraid to control defensively, for example by holding training aircraft at ‘parking’ during busy times […] In assessing the risk, the board agreed that the final separation of 400ft had largely been achieved by chance because of the R22’s climb.”
The panel said the helicopter pilot may have needed to have a look around as well as taking the controller’s clearance, and the aeroplane pilot could have listened to the controller’s message to the helicopter.
It added: “Turning to the role of the aerodrome controller, members noted he was extremely busy with circuit traffic that needed orbiting due to inbounds, aircraft with timed slots to achieve, and taxiway inspections, any one of which would require careful attention on its own.”
It said the controller had given the helicopter immediate clearance to take off while an E175 passenger jet was taxiing along the runway, but with hindsight, holding the E175 on the runway may have prevented a possible collision.
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