MILITARY pilots have been told not to practise dog-fighting in airspace used by civil aircraft after a near-miss over Aviemore forced a passenger jet to make a turn to avoid colliding with two fighters.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which analyses near-misses between airliners and military flights, has asked the Ministry of Defence to remind pilots not to run practice battles in controlled airspace in case it causes a mid-air collision.

The request follows an incident last October which saw a pair of Sea Harrier fighters cross the flightpath of a Boeing 737 and pass more than a mile closer to the airliner than is allowed under the rules.

The airliner, which was flying from Belfast to Inverness, was forced to make a turn to the left. The civilian pilot was alerted to the Royal Naval Air Service planes when they flashed up on radar on a path which would cut across in front of the Boeing. Furthermore, they appeared to be descending diagonally across the airliner's path.

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