Red Arrows disaster narrowly averted as MoD details intrusion onto RAF base
Potential disaster was narrowly averted when an intruder wandered across a high-security RAF base and forced air traffic controllers to urgently abort the take-off of six fighter jets, it has been revealed. The woman dressed in black scaled the perimeter fence of RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire and made it onto the runway just as the jets were lined up waiting for the green light.At the time, the base, home to the RAF’s iconic display team, the Red Arrows, as well as its eyes in the skies assets, was busy with a multi-nation military training exercise. Just as air traffic controllers were about to release four Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s and two Turkish Air Force F-16s, the intruder was spotted.With the fast jets moments away from hurtling down the runway, controllers ordered an emergency stop as military police raced to apprehend the woman last February.The service’s official safety journal reported a team, which has since received a commendation for their prompt actions, were carrying out a visual check between the runway and perimeter fence.It said: “Their collective vigilance identified a lone, unauthorised pedestrian walking across the airfield directly towards the centreline of the runway, which posed a significant risk to both the safety of the intruder and aircraft, and also jeopardised the successful prosecution of the exercise.”Personnel were dispatched to apprehend the individual and “this ensured the personal safety of the intruder and minimised associated hazards from the airfield.“Within minutes, the individual was safely removed from the runway”.An Air Command source said within 10 minutes the six jets received another 'safe to go' and all took off safely. The base near to Lincoln was hosting the Cobra Warrior training exercise with aircraft from the French, Saudi and Turkish air forces.It is also home to surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, including Shadow R1, RC-135 Rivet Joint, and Protector drones."I cannot reveal any further information on this incident," the source added.The RAF confirmed the incident on February 26 last year took place when a member of the public climbed over the frangible fence, a safety barrier designed to break or collapse upon impact by an aircraft, opposite the threshold of the runway.No injuries were sustained by the individual or service personnel. An air forces spokesperson said: “We take security extremely seriously and operate a multi-layered approach to protect our sites, including fencing, patrols and CCTV monitoring. “The whole force understands the need to protect our people, assets and information and the actions of our service personnel ensured that this incident was managed swiftly and effectively enabling the RAF to quickly return to what it does best – flying and fighting.”
