This is an interesting one.
Yes, there are always near misses - sorry, "Airproxes". Yes, people make mistakes.
However...
One thing we all know about the North Sea is that there are oilrigs out there, which need servicing, and there needs to be transit routes to and from them.
Another thing we all know is that there are military ranges out there, and refuelling areas, and there needs to be transit routes to and from these.
We also always know that there are other aircraft using the same airspace as us.
As soon as we make assumptions, we put ourselves in danger. Assume that you are the only aircraft operating "in these conditions" or "nobody else ever uses this route" and you reduce the margin of safety.
Use a lower level of ATC service because of the workload on you or the perceived workload on the controller and you reduce the safety margins further. Allow yourself to be distracted by something in the cabin or something your mate is doing on the flight deck (or in his cockpit) and you reduce the safety margins even further.
How far do they need to be reduced to cause an accident? Nobody knows - until it's too late.
In airspace like the North Sea, around Newcastle and various other sites, military and civilian traffic merge well only with extreme caution and vigilance on both parts.
I can't find the original report of this incident, but it
sounds like there was a severe amount of complacency and lack of communication on the part of one or two military personnel here.
There is no excuse whatsoever for complacency, or for making assumptions. Assumptions are the mother of all f
k-ups. What's more, they make people dead.
Military traffic is still (UKAB Report 9) causing far more than its fair share of airproxes. It is time that the MoD (and particularly the RAF) recognised there is a severe problem in their ranks, and addressed it.
Despite a steady decline in Military flying in UK airspace, Mil:Mil airproxes increased last year by
50%. Incidents in which safety was not assured increased by
74%. They were involved in half of all last year's airprox incidents. In the great majority of Mil:Civil airproxes, the military pilots was deemed to be at fault.
Yet the message we keep getting is how professional they are. I don't deny that. But I would argue that perhaps their training is severely lacking.
It is also worth noting that the vast majority of airprox incidents last year are attributed to controller, rather than pilot, error.