Jets come within seconds of collision

Two passenger aircraft came within 15 seconds of mid-air disaster after being mistakenly put on a collision course over Brighton.

The jets, carrying more than 100 passengers, were ordered to take "immediate avoiding action" when air traffic controllers spotted danger at the last minute.

According to reports today, the maneouvres were drastic enough for those on board to feel the planes swerve.

The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the incident, one of two near misses over the South Coast last Friday. Both will again raise concerns over the ability of Britain's air traffic control system to cope with its workload, now likely to get even bigger thanks to imminent plans for extra runways at London's airports.

The Brighton incident involved a British Airways BAe 146 jet carrying 79 passengers from Manchester to Paris, and a Swiss Saab 2000 carrying 26 passengers from London City Airport to Switzerland.

The BA flight was at 23,000ft when the Swiss plane was cleared to fly at the same altitude. Travelling at more than 400mph, they came within three-and-a-half miles of each other - breaching the five-mile minumum laid down by air safety guidelines. When the mistake was realised by air traffic controllers at Swanwick, Hampshire, the BA flight was ordered to drop to 21,000ft.

A spokesman for National Air Traffic Services said: "The distance got down to 3.6 miles. Air traffic controllers gave both aircraft instructions to alter their course to restore standard separation. This is an example of air traffic control doing exactly what it is there for. Passenger safety was at no time compromised, there was no question of collision."

But today's Daily Mail quoted one controller saying: "Things should never have got to that situation in the first place."

The CAA is also investigating a near miss over Dover, three hours before the Brighton incident.

An Airbus A320 of charter airline JMC, carrying 177 passengers from the Balearic Islands to Teeside, came within 2.8 miles of an unspecified military flight. JMC has said at no time were passengers in danger.

There are about 5,500 flights a day in UK airspace. The NATS spokesman said last year recorded the least " riskbearing near-misses" for 12 years.