TWO small planes came perilously close to a collision in the skies above Sussex, a report has revealed.

An investigation by the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) concluded there was a serious risk of a collision between a Socata TB10 and a PA28 above Shoreham beach near Shoreham Airport on July 18 last year.

The pilot of the TB10 told investigators that they had looked to their left to see part of an aircraft on their left-hand side and abruptly climbed as fast as possible to avoid a collision.

Both pilots reported a vertical separation between both aircraft of around 50 feet (approximately 15 metres), with analysis by the UKAB measuring the planes' horizontal separation at less than 0.1 nautical miles (approximately 185 metres or 608 feet).

The Argus: Map of both planes' flight path in the run-up to the near missMap of both planes' flight path in the run-up to the near miss

The report said that the pilot of the PA28 did not see the TB10 aircraft until after their closest point of approach, and concluded that the TB10 pilot's input to climb had "most likely not had time to take effect before the aircraft had passed each other."

"Providence had played a major part in events," the report added.

The investigation also said that the air/ground operator at Shoreham could have done nothing to assist either pilot in the situation, "as they themselves were unaware of the relative proximity of the two aircraft and, in any case, an air/ground operator is not permitted to issue instructions to pilots".

The near miss came almost six years after the Shoreham Airshow crash, where an aircraft failed to complete a loop manoeuvre and crashed, hitting vehicles on the A27.

A total of 11 people were killed and 16 injured in the worst air show disaster for more than 60 years.

An official investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found that pilot error was to blame for the accident, with the pilot failing to recognise that the aircraft was flying too low to perform the loop.

An inquest into the tragedy has been repeatedly postponed due to the pandemic.

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