Passenger plane in near-miss with U.S. jet

LONDON, England -- An investigation is underway into an incident in which a passenger flight with 234 people on board narrowly avoided a catastrophic mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force jet.

Unconfirmed reports say the aircraft came within 100ft of crashing.

The Britannia Airways Boeing 757 was en route from Birmingham to Cyprus when the near miss happened at 10,000ft on the morning of November 22.

The other plane was thought to be a US Air Force F15 based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.

A spokeswoman for Britannia Airways told CNN.com: "We can confirm that an incident involving one of our 757 aircraft is being investigated by Civil Aviation Authority.

"We cannot comment on the details of the incident while an investigation is under way, but we can confirm that a Britannia Airways plane was involved and that it had 234 passengers on board.

"None of the passengers were aware of the incident."

The UK Civil Aviation Authority said that the incident, which comes as the UK Government is seeking the partial sell-off of its air traffic control network, was so serious that it was referred directly to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

An incident report on the CAA's website said: "An Aircraft Proximity (Airprox) report has been filed with the Civil Aviation Authority involving a Boeing 757 and a military jet.

"The incident took place eight miles west of Daventy, Northamptonshire, on Wednesday, 22 November at 1017 hours.

"The Boeing 757 was en route for Paphos, Cyprus, and was receiving an air traffic control service from the London Area and Terminal Control Centre.

"The incident took place at approximately 10,000 feet."

Britannia Airways
Civil Aviation Authority

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