RAF F-35s In 'High Risk' Encounter With Helicopter Over Norwich

The crew of a civilian helicopter says they were involved in a near-miss with four Royal Air Force F-35 fighter jets over Norwich in Norfolk.

An Airprox report says the incident, which happened on 24 February, saw one of the F-35Bs get within 600ft (183m) of the AW139 helicopter.

The four jets, from RAF Marham, were flying in formation at the time as part of a Qualified Flying Instructor course.

According to the report, the helicopter crew was initially only informed of "intense military activity" by air traffic control, before being later notified of the jets' presence. 

The AW139 pilot was then able to spot three of the four F-35s.

The report found the helicopter "could not predict the F-35 pilots' intentions and so elected to maintain course and altitude initially" but then descended "when the conflicting flight paths became apparent".

The AW139 crew was commended for its "lookout and proactive actions to help reduce the risk of a collision; without this manoeuvre, the CPA [closest point of approach] would have been significantly closer".

Following the incident, the helicopter pilot assessed the risk of collision as "high", while the lead pilot of the F-35B formation reported the risk as "low".

The report said the first F-35 was unaware of the helicopter when it passed overhead, but it was the pilot of the second jet who got a visual and alerted the others.

The F-35 pilots were also commended for their response, with the report saying "the pilot of [F35 #2] did well to pass on traffic information to the rest of the formation, thus reducing any further risk of conflict".

The Airprox report went on to say: "The AW139 and F35 #2 pilots shared an equal responsibility for collision avoidance."

All F-35 operators have been told to read the report "as a case study to help improve awareness".

Pilots were also reminded that "good and active lookout scanning is required" in congested Class G airspace, as there is frequent helicopter activity between Norwich and the Anglian off-shore rigs.

Following the report, the level of supervision to radar controllers at RAF Marham will be increased during busy periods.

A Royal Air Force spokesperson said: "The RAF takes all reported air incidents very seriously, with air safety remaining at the core of all our activity.

"In this case, the single incident involving a military aircraft was assessed as category C which means that there was no risk of collision."

Cover image: Four F-35B aircraft flying over the UK (Library picture: MOD).