Jet and airliner carrying 232 passengers nearly collide over homes in Hackney Wick

Near-miss over residential area forces air traffic controllers to introduce new safety measures.

Air traffic controllers have issued new safety measures to prevent a crash at a potential accident black spot over the busy A12 Eastway, after the near miss last year.

The crew of a business jet taking off from London City Airport with one passenger onboard was forced to take last-minute action to avoid hitting a Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 preparing to land at Heathrow at 2.40pm on July 27, 2009.

The jet climbed too high and the two planes passed just half-a-mile from each other at heights less than 61 metres apart, according to the report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) published today (September 9).

Experts said the consequences of a collision could have been “particularly serious because of the population density below”.

They said human error and miscommunication were to blame, and made recommendations about the height of planes taking off from London City and the use of collision avoidance systems.

Air safety watchdog The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said improved communication procedures were now in place to prevent similar human error in the future.