Coventry Airport 'near misses' probe
04.02.06
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is investigating seven incidents of 'near misses' or other safety incidents involving aircraft using Coventry Airport. Airprox, or aircraft proximity, reports are logged with the CAA after incidents which are judged to have put the safety of an aircraft at risk and are then investigated.
The most recent Airprox report was in October, when a Boeing 737 approaching the airport and a helicopter were reported as flying too close to each other. In another incident, in January last year, a helicopter avoided a Boeing 737 at just 200ft up.
A CAA spokesman said the reports were being investigated and an assessment would be published soon. He said: 'They happen from time to time. If there was anything inherently unsafe, action would be taken. The airport as it is meets safety requirements and so did the airspace planning arrangements.'
'If there was any evidence they are unsafe we would look at it and take action. We would not permit an unsafe situation to exist.' He added that the vast majority of incidents had no risk attached and the UK had some of the lowest airport incidents in the world.
Nationally, according to CAA figures, there were 79 airport incidents involving commercial air transport in 2004 and 85 percent these were assessed as having no risk of collision. A spokesman for Coventry Airport declined to comment on the incidents.
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