(NBC News)
David K. Li Sept. 12, 2019, 12:48 PM
Two parachutists in the skies over England had a close brush with U.S. fighter jets that roared under them during a jump earlier this year, U.K. government aviation officials said.
The skydivers were in freefall, traveling at about 120 mph vertically, on April 17 when a pair of American F-15s flew directly under them at about 345 mph, according to the U.K. Airprox Board, the national air safety investigation body, in a report that recently surfaced.
The jumpers were carrying out the jump over Chatteris Airfield, about 90 miles north of London.
"Once the parachutists had seen the F15s there was very little they could do to avoid the situation, having no control over their speed or direction whilst in free-fall," the report found.
The F-15 pilots never saw the jumpers — but even if they did, there would have been no time avoid catastrophe.
"As they overflew the drop site, it was unlikely that the pilots would have been able to see the parachutists and take avoiding action, and in this case they were unaware that they had flown beneath them," according to the report.
U.K. Airprox didn't specifically determine how close this near-miss was but said there was "Go-Pro footage filmed from the helmet of one of the parachutists" that showed the jumpers "could clearly see the F15s passing beneath."
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