Brussels, 09/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has asked on Tuesday 9 December the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to examine near mid-air collisions between European passenger aeroplanes and military aircraft from third countries. Incidents of this kind are reported to have occurred increasingly frequently in recent months on the borders of the European airspace, as the transponders of the military aircraft are believed to have been inactive. A report is expected in the next few months.
Several member states are believed to have reported this situation, after having failed to establish radio contact with military aircraft. This situation represents a serious danger to air safety and could have serious political and diplomatic consequences. The Swedish media in particular reported an incident which occurred in March of this year, near the city of Malmö, in which a Scandinavian Airlines aeroplane came within 90 metres of colliding with a Russian reconnaissance aircraft which failed to transmit its position.
Executive Director of EASA Patrick Ky said that he was taking the situation very seriously and has undertaken to consult all the relevant civil and military bodies in order to gather the necessary information for EASA to complete its analysis. The Commission awaits clarifications from EASA on the causes of these near mid-air collisions with passenger aeroplanes, together with recommendations, by March 2015. (MD)