RAF Valley Hawk jets in near miss with mystery 'paramotor' on approach to Anglesey base

Wales Online

6 days ago

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
Two Hawk jets were involved in a near miss with a mystery paramotor on the "approach lane" for RAF Valley. The paramotor - which is a powered para-glider - had not been detected on radar and hadn't notified Air Traffic Control (ATC) of its intentions.
This saw the two Hawks come within 200ft of the motorised glider around five miles south of RAF Valley. It was visually identified by crew at a late stage in the incident on November 27 last year.
After the near miss all traffic within the visual circuit was instructed to land due to the unknown routeing of the paramotor. An investigation was launched and an Airprox (air proximity) report has now been released.
The report stated: "The pair of Hawks came within an estimated 200ft of the para[motor].
"Although the para[motor] pilot was operating within the law, it would be fair to say that they were operating with poor awareness of the hazard of flying in the approach lane of a busy fast-jet base. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
"Likewise, the Hawk formation had no awareness of the presence of the para[motor] until it was too late to do anything about it."
Despite extensive efforts it proved impossible to track down the pilot of the motorised glider, which had been hard to identify on the day due to having a dark coloured canopy against a dark-coloured ground.
The report added: "It was clear from the footage that the 'look-down' was not particularly good that day, which likely contributed to the difficulties in seeing the para[motor] canopy until it had passed underneath the aircraft, by which point it was too late to do anything about it."
In terms of recommendations, it added: "Hawk pilots will be reminded at the next flight safety meeting of the potential hazards of para[motor]s on approach to the airfield, and the importance of an effective lookout. Valley AST will be asked to liaise with ATC to determine the suitability of positioning a monitor showing glidernet.org (and perhaps ADS-B) live information to increase ATC's awareness of free flying in the vicinity of RAF Valley."
The flight safety officer of the local paragliding club has subsequently also issued a communication to the club to warn against flying in the approach lane of RAF Valley.
The report added: "It is likely that the para[motor] pilot is not a member of the club and/or a visitor to the area."
HQ Air Command said: "A good spot by the rear occupant of the lead aircraft; however, there wasn't time for the Hawk formation to conduct any type of avoiding action. The event was well managed by ATC in coordination with the Duty Pilot to mitigate any further risks presented by the paramotor.
"Continued engagement with local airspace users via the Regional Airspace User Working Group is vital; however, it will be difficult to capture all airspace users, especially those who don't appear to be members of the BHPA (British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association)."
The BHPA said: "The BHPA is most disappointed to hear about this Airprox which had a considerable adverse effect on RAF Valley's flying operations. We have made extensive attempts at trying to identify this paramotor pilot and, during our conversations with the local BHPA paragliding and paramotoring clubs on Anglesey, we weren't able to ascertain their identity and, therefore, we are almost certain that this pilot is not a BHPA member.
"Consequently, we are unable to add much in the way of a BHPA comment to the incident itself other than relief that a more serious outcome was averted."
They added that they were frustrated that the Civil Aviation Authority and Department for Transport had not made proper training and third party insurance mandatory for paramotor and powered hang glider pilots.
They said: "Paramotoring still remains the only form of aviation in the UK where an unlicensed and uninsured pilot can fly and share the sky with other airspace users having had no formal training on the Rules of the Air, AirLaw, Meteorology, Airspace Classifications, etc., or had any formal flying instruction."
The incident was classed as a risk category B (on scale of A - the most serious - to D. This means the incident involved a significant reduction in safety margins, but a collision was not assessed as likely. Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone