OVER HEATHROW

A British Airways Concorde narrowly missed colliding with an Argentine jumbo jet that was taking off from Heathrow, it was revealed yesterday.

The two planes, travelling at a combined speed of about 500 mph, came within a mile of each other at a height of 9,000ft above Woodley, near Reading, Berkshire. The captain of the Concorde, Flight BA004 from New York, yesterday filed a near-miss report on the incident, which happened shortly after l0pm on Friday.

A senior BA source said one of the planes probably deviated from its course because of the stormy weather. "There is a great risk in an incident like this bacause the two planes would have been only seconds from hitting each other," he said.

The incident is to be investigated by the Joint Air Miss Working Group. It will examine statements from pilots and air traffic controllers, along with radar details and data from voice recorders.

It is the second time in three years that a British Airways Concorde has narrowly missed disaster above Woodley. The town lies four minutes flying time from Heathrow and underneath the intersection of flights between Gatwick and Heathrow.

In April 1987 a Concorde flight from London to New York missed a twin-engine Otter flying from Birmingham to Gatwick by just 800 yards, also at around 9,000ft.

According to one aviation expert, under normal conditions planes flying into Heathrow circle and approach at between 7,000ft and 12,000ft. Aircraft departing generally stay at 6,000ft or less until they have left the approach area. This pattern may, however, have been broken because of the thunderstorms on Friday evening.

A spokesman for British Airways said yesterday that on Friday night the flight had 19 passengers and eight crew on board. "The two aircraft were both under air traffic control and there was no danger. The captain of the Concorde was told to turn left away from the Argentine jumbo," he said.