US military jets, including F15s on training, in Norfolk near-miss

Three US military aircraft, including two F15 fighter jets in combat training, were involved in a near-miss over Norfolk, a report has found.

The F15s turned towards a Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft on 27 November, despite receiving information about its location on three occasions.

The training flight was aborted when the RC-135 was spotted and the F15s executed a turn to avoid a crash.

The UK Airprox Board said an F15 came within 370m (1,214ft) of the RC-135.

It added the fighter pilots had "sufficient information" about the location of the reconnaissance aircraft from a controller based in Hampshire.

But they may not have fully understood it due to being engaged in "highly-dynamic manoeuvring", the Airprox Board added.

One of the F15s was acting as an aggressor, while the other was playing the defender in the training exercise, and both assessed the risk of collision as "none".

However, the RC-135 pilot - whose aircraft had activated a warning system inside its cockpit - believed the risk of the incident on 27 November was "medium".

The United States operates F-15s from RAF Lakenheath and RC-135s from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.

The Airprox Board said it analysed the risk as C, the third highest level, and there had been no risk of collision.