Two RAF planes in 'near miss' over Anglesey after 'shortfalls' in communication

Two Texan aircraft were involved in a near miss over Anglesey south of RAF Valley, triggering an Airprox investigation. Both pilots were solo trainees with limited experience on the Texan T1 and were in the early stages of training.

The incident occurred on March 19 at around 5:30pm local time. The Texan A was being flown by a solo trainee with under three hours solo on the type, while Texan B was flown by a solo trainee with under two hours solo on the type on their second solo flight.

Texan A was completing a local sortie and performing a visual recovery to RAF Valley from the southeast while on a Traffic Service with Approach. Texan B was conducting circuits at RAF Mona and RAF Valley, later routing left over the bay via Initial in line with solo student restrictions.

The two aircraft approached Initial at the same time after being told of the solo Texan A’s approach. Texan A crossed above Texan B from right to left at approximately 300 feet vertical separation with no lateral separation, prompting Texan B to roll wings level, increase vertical separation, and relay their position to ATC.

The incident was assessed as high risk by the pilots, and both landed safely. An Occurrence Safety Investigation identified shortfalls in communication and a lack of a clearly defined shared recovery plan among controllers, contributing to the reduced safe separation.