Details of one of the most serious near-miss aviation incidents ever recorded in Britain came to light in an official Civil Aviation Authority report last month.
British Aerospace Systems and Equipment (BASE) is using the report to highlight the significance of its Contran VHF radio anti-blocking system.
The incident, in May 1995, saw an Air France Airbus A320 come within 60m (200ft) of colliding with an Air Littoral Fokker 70 at 9,000ft (2,750m). Only a last-second warning prevented the collision over south-east London.
The official report pinpoints the fact that the Airbus pilot had acted on an instruction intended for another aircraft.
Contran is designed to guard against conflicting transmissions. The system eliminates the possibility of two or more pilots responding to a misheard message. This is achieved by monitoring channel activity and inhibiting transmissions into a busy frequency.
Earlier this year, Contran was ordered by Britannia Airways, the UK's leading charter airline, for installation in its entire fleet of Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft.
BASE announced on Monday that the system will be tested later this year by Virgin Atlantic Airways.
A spokesman for BASE says: "It is not possible to say that an anti-blocking system would have completely prevented the situation over London happening. But a misheard instruction was certainly identified as being part of the problem.
"We are very happy with the product thus far but we look forward to seeing the results of the tests with Virgin."
Source: Flight Daily News
