http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/8454125.stmPage last updated at 16:12 GMT, Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Planes came within 100ft of crash over Oxfordshire
Two planes came within 100ft of a mid-air crash over Oxfordshire, an independent report has revealed.
A C17 military plane narrowly avoided colliding with a small aircraft flying between Faringdon and Lechlade in June.
Investigators concluded the RAF crew acted correctly after being alerted by safety mechanisms on board.
Their report said the civilian plane should have turned when its pilot spotted the aircraft, rather than descending.
Steep dive
The two-seater plane was flying from Fairoaks in Surrey to Gloucestershire on 1 June 2009.
The report is from the UK Airprox Board, which is funded by the CAA and MoD and investigates near misses.
It said the the pilot was south-west of Brize Norton heading northwest when he spotted a "plain grey jet".
To avoid a collision he started to descend, but at this point the C17 plane also began to drop after advice from air traffic control.
The civilian pilot steepened his dive to avoid a collision.
The C17 plane's collision avoidance system told the crew to ascend, at which point the military aircraft climbed.
Weather conditions were clear, the report added.
The incident was rated as category A, the most serious level.
Flight safety expert David Learmount said there could have been a mid-air crash.
"The worst consequence would have been that both the aeroplanes would have been damaged so badly that they would have fallen out of the sky.
"It was very very close."
