RAF Typhoon involved in near miss over Norfolk coast

An RAF Typhoon jet was involved in a "near miss" with a helicopter off the Norfolk cost in May, according to a report from the UK's military flight safety authority the Airprox Board.
The jet was revealed to have come within 200ft as it flew beneath a helicopter as part of a training exercise.

The incident happened at 12.07pm on 13 May while the helicopter was engaged in manoeuvres at 2,000ft (615m) over the village of Gimingham. The jet was one of two involved in exercises off the UK coast. The report from the Airprox Board concluded that as the Typhoon was flying close to a busy main helicopter route contributed to the event.

Norwich air traffic control had warned the helicopter of the presence of the two jets that were five to seven miles away at 12.06pm. Within a minute of the call the second of the two planes had passed close under the helicopter.

According to the report, the two Typhoon jets were involved I a "simulated strafe attack" and had chosen a target that was outside their normal flying zone due to weather conditions. Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted weapons – typically machine guns and rotary autocannons. The incident was made public by the Airprox Board and classified as a "B risk" level , one step down from the highest risk "A".

The report is set to raise major concerns over the flight paths of RAF Typhoon fighters, as less than two weeks ago it was revealed that a Typhoon was caught in a similar incident. Flying at 350mph it came within 20ft of crashing into another aircraft, believed to be a Tucano training plane, as it came into land.

The unnamed pilot in the training plane, which was travelling at 161mph and was cleared to land at Lincolnshire's RAF Coningsby on 12 March, had to snatch back the controls from his student to avoid the near catastrophe.