A pair of British fighter jets appeared to come close to colliding during a training exercise in eastern England, according to spine-tingling pictures captured by amateur photographers.
The two Royal Air Force pilots were reportedly practicing “dogfighting” – or close combat – in their Eurofighter Typhoon when the encounter happened, according to The Telegraph.
That’s when Anthony Helcoop, an amateur photographer, took a photo that appeared to show the nose of one of the fighters almost hitting the tail of the other.
“Just before 5pm on Thursday, I broke these two Typhoons and thought, ‘Wow, looks really close,'” Helcoop told the Daily Mail.
“You see them do all kinds of moves, but this one seems a little too close for comfort,” he continued. “They seem very close on this occasion.”
A Ministry of Defense source told The Telegraph that the picture was likely an optical illusion caused by Helcoop’s camera angle.
“If this is genuine, I suspect this may just be the angle we’re looking at,” the source told the news outlet.
Two RAF fighter jets appear to have almost collided during a training exercise in England.Anthony Helcoop / SWNSSumber The Ministry of Defense is reported to have said the close encounter may have been an optical illusion caused by the photographer’s camera angle. Anthony Helcoop / SWNS
“Also, they will be fighting each other, so ‘close-quarters’ is not how anyone would describe such activity, because they will see each other and know where the other planes are and what they are doing,” the source said, adding that there is a strict 1,000-foot bubble enforced during such exercises.
Helcoop said he couldn’t tell the distance between the planes from the ground — but from his perspective, “they were definitely looking up close.”
The collision would have been catastrophic – the jet was more than three miles in the air during the maneuver, the Telegraph said.
The photographer, Anthony Helcoop, said he sees many such moves and often photographs the fighters as they do their work. Anthony Helcoop / SWNS
The photo enthusiast said he often sees fighters training in West Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, which is about two and a half hours north of London.
“I love watching the pilots from RAF Coningsby practicing combat maneuvers,” he said. “I spent a lot of time photographing planes over West Pinchbeck.”
“They are Top Guns,” he continued. “Makes you feel safe that these pilots are protecting our skies.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
