Flybe plane had "near-miss" with bridge

A flight by Exeter based Airline, Flybe had a “near-miss” while landing  earlier this year according to a report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).

The Flybe plane was carrying more than 60 passengers when it came within 894ft (272.4m) of an obstacle thought to be the Runcorn Bridge while landing at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool.

The co-pilot had disengaged the aircraft’s auto-pilot and was tracking the bridge visually when the near-miss took place.

The report stated that the co-pilot had “allowed the aircraft’s rate of descent to increase” and the commander “had become distracted from monitoring the [aircraft’s] vertical profile.”

The aircraft was descending at a rate of more than 2,000ft per minute when the plane’s warning system alerted the flight crew.

The crew adjusted the flight path and after the warning was raised.

A Flybe spokesperson comments: “Flybe confirms that safety of its passengers and crew is its number one priority. The event highlighted in the AAIB report was thoroughly investigated by our own investigators and with correspondence with the AAIB.

“Both parties concluded that at no time was the safety of the flight compromised; however, in light of the event, and despite the AAIB making no recommendations, Flybe have taken a number of actions to further improve safety.”

The incident happened on a flight from the Isle of Man on June 1 2013 with the AAIB report released in November.

A separate AAIB report released this month found that a single-engine private aircraft had its landing gear collapse while landing at Exeter Airport on the 9 June 2013.

The plane left the runway and came to rest on its left wing sustaining some damage.

The planes’ 71-year-old commander and his passenger were uninjured.