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HT This Day: Oct 27, 1960 -- Queen’s plane escapes collision with jets
Two Sabre jet fighter planes were reported to have flown “on collision course” close to the Royal airliner bringing Queen Elizabeth ‘and the Duke of Edinburgh home yesterday from a private visit to King Frederik and Queen Ingrid of Denmark.
Two Sabre jet fighter planes were reported to have flown “on collision course” close to the Royal airliner bringing Queen Elizabeth ‘and the Duke of Edinburgh home yesterday from a private visit to King Frederik and Queen Ingrid of Denmark. After the Royal Comet airliner had landed at London airport, the Queen and the Duke talked for some time with their crew, apparently about the inoi dent.
The Comet pilot, Sq. Ldr. Peter Pullan said: “My co-pilot saw the two aircraft and said they were on collision course.”
The Captain of the Queen’s flight, Air Cmdre Sir Edward Fielden. said: “They had no right to be there. I did not see them myself, but the co-pilot did.”
The Comet was 50 minutes out from Copenhagen. flying at 30,000 feet above Eelde airport on the . Dutch-German border, when the incident occurred.
The Comet was using a “purple” airway, a route reserved for Royal flights, but adjacent to the normal airway from Scandinavia to London.
The Netherlands Air Force has blamed German authorities for the near-collision of two German Sabre jets and the Royal Comet it was confirmed that the accident occurred above the German-Netherlands border, 30 kilometres I north of Eelde airport, Netherlands.
ROUNDABOUT ROUTE
This route follows an overland course down through Germany and Holland, crossing the coast near the Dutch-Belgian border. This roundabout air route has been adopted because of fears that Soviet flights across the North Sea might lead to the ride of collisions between civil airliners and military aircraft which use the region extensively for training programmes.
The co-pilot, who saw the two jets approaching said the planes had Iron Cross markings under neath the wings. A Joint German-British committee of inquiry has been appointed to investigate the near collision between Queen Elizabeth’s plane and two West German Sabre jets, the West German Defence Ministry announced.
All German pilots flying at the time of the incident were order ed to give evidence under oath The two jets passed hardly 60 feet above the Royal airliner over Holland as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were returning to England after a brief visit to Denmark.
