HOLIDAY JET NEAR MISS Planes almost crashed after blunder by ‘overworked’ air traffic controller at Stansted Airport - TheSun

The controller is reported to have told the wrong plane to climb, causing the two Boeings to come within 700ft of each other

A MAN who was juggling a large workload gave a plane the wrong instruction which nearly resulted in a crash between two Boeings.

The controller told the wrong jet to climb and this led to a Boeing 737 came within 700ft of a Boeing 777.

Both aircraft were carrying more than 600 passengers on April 1, whose safety was put at risk, a report found.

One plane was flying in to Stansted Airport in Essex, the other was flying out.

The UK Airport Board, which looks into near misses like this one, said the controller gave 13 different sets of instructions to eight different pilots in 92 seconds, before the potential crisis was averted.

The report also noted the man in the control room at the time was “subject to a high workload” but that action was taken to control the situation.

Air navigation firm NATS told the Mirror incidences like this are rare and a spokesman added: “On 1 April an air traffic controller at the Swanwick Control Centre mistakenly allowed a B737 leaving Stansted to fly at less than the required level of separation – 1,000ft or 3 miles – with a B777 aircraft.

“The controller took action to correct the error and the UK Airprox Board concluded that there was no risk of collision.

“Incidents like this are rare and NATS has an excellent safety record, but when they do occur we always seek to learn the lessons to help avoid any potential repeat.”