An Aberdeenshire flying club has introduced new safety measures after a glider pilot blundered into the path of a passenger plane.
The incident took place in the skies above Aboyne on October 24 last year, but an official report reveals the pilot believed he was actually near Dinnet, around four miles away.
The pilot of the turbo-prop Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft said the ASK 13 glider ended up in controlled airspace.
It prompted Deeside Gliding Club to bring in safeguards including an enhanced airspace briefing for all visitors.
Visiting gliders are now required to carry a moving-map device and club gliders have been fitted with ‘modern instrumentation’ including GPS based navigation devices.
A report by the UK Airprox Board, which investigates near misses, has praised the club for its response and suggested the changes should be brought in across the country.
The pilot of the larger aircraft was descending when he saw two gliders at the same altitude, heading in the opposite direction approximately 0.5nm off the port wing.
He said there was no time to take avoiding action and there was ‘nothing shown on his radar.’
The captain contacted the duty manager at Aberdeen to discuss the near miss and confirmed that nothing was seen on his radar system.
He also spoke to the gliding club at Aboyne to make sure everyone checked their position and stayed out of the way of controlled airspace.
An investigation found that with no consistent radar data or positive identification of the glider, it was not possible to calculate how close the two aircraft had come.
The UK Airprox board report said: “The information received from the pilot, plus Allanshill Radar data, strongly suggests the glider was within the lateral and vertical confines of the control area.
“Nevertheless, members surmised from the ASK13 pilot’s report that he probably had inadvertently flown into the control area and thereby into conflict with the DHC8, and that this was the cause of the Airprox.
“Turning to the risk, members felt that although the ASK13 pilot had not seen the DHC8 and the DHC8 pilot had only seen the ASK13 at or about closest point of approach, separation as reported by the DHC8 pilot was such that, on this occasion, although safety had been reduced, there had been no risk of collision.
“Finally, members commended the Deeside Gliding Club on their proportionate and considered response to the Airprox event, and felt that the measures introduced could wisely be followed by other gliding clubs operating in proximity to controlled airspace.”
Mark Recht, the chairman of Deeside Gliding Club, said they have been working alongside officials as part of the investigation.
He said: “I can confirm that Deeside Gliding Club worked closely with the authorities to establish the facts and proposed mitigating actions in relation to the airprox report.
“In the last reported year there were 265 airprox reports in the UK with just under half being Category C (no risk), which is how this incident was classified.
“The airprox board “commended the Deeside Gliding Club on their proportionate and considered response to the Airprox event” and “felt that the measures introduced could wisely be followed by other gliding clubs operating in proximity to CAS”.
“I am pleased to confirm that all these measures are now in place.”
