Tornado pilot blames dirty windscreen for near-miss

A DIRTY windscreen contributed to a near-miss incident involving an RAF jet and a private aircraft over the Cairngorms, a report has revealed.

The Tornado GR4 pilot from RAF Lossiemouth told investigators that he failed to see the small aircraft because of the state of the front cockpit screen.

He said he could not clean it mid-flight because the windscreen wash bottles were no longer being replenished.

The two planes came within 600ft of each other while flying over the mountains at 12:41pm on 25 October last year. The Tornado pilot, who was on low-level training and travelling at 483mph, reported seeing a single engine aircraft coming straight towards him as he executed a right-hand turn.

The report said: "He considered that a factor in his late acquisition of the light aircraft had been that the front cockpit windscreen was dirty."

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: "The washer bottles are topped up when required on servicing. The windscreens are also cleaned before each flight."

She added: "There is no issue with the washer bottles."