KC-135 evasive manoeuvre to avoid transponder-off glider prompts UK safety warning

UK investigators warned of the hazards posed by deactivated transponders after a US Air Force KC-135 carried out an evasive manoeuvre to avoid an undetected glider while on an ILS approach to RAF Mildenhall on 8 April. The event has prompted a formal safety review.

Discovered 2025-09-12T02:32:14.444019-07:00 | 2025-09-12T02:32:14.444019-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • A glider with its transponder off went undetected on final approach, forcing a KC-135 to take evasive action and triggering a formal safety inquiry (see the KC-135 near-miss report: https://hype.aero/?story=293b3e16-4c65-4aa6-a47c-1b2b874bd5f0).
  • The event highlights ongoing gaps in military–civil traffic separation and surveillance that collision-avoidance technology trials are trying to close (see related F-35 collision-avoidance trials: https://hype.aero/?story=3466ab15-24c6-470d-a2bf-5026b701afc3).
  • It reinforces regulators' and operators' need to review ATC procedures and detect-and-avoid measures after other recent close calls in UK-controlled airspace (see the F-15/helicopter separation review: https://hype.aero/?story=97aaa92c-2654-4d14-bf0b-1ad892e772ba).

Reported By

The Aviationist aeroin.net FlightGlobal
Sources Tracked
3
First Seen
2025-09-12T02:32:14.444019-07:00
Latest Update
2025-09-15T12:59:27.802969-07:00
Coverage
Aviation

Sources

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