Amateur pilot strays into flypast in Britain

LONDON - An amateur pilot in Britain misread air restriction timing and was left stunned when he found himself flying alongside a huge formation of 29 military aircraft at an RAF flypast.

David Remnant, flying a tiny Cessna, strayed into the RAF flypast, a court was told.

A Tornado pilot spotted the Cessna when it was barely 200 feet away and it was heading straight towards him, the Sun reported Wednesday.

Air traffic controllers ordered the RAF team to “dive, dive, dive” for 300 feet while Remnant was directed to fly up 300 feet to avoid a mid-air collision.

Remnant, 43, got mixed up with the flypast to mark the Queen’s birthday after he misread the time on an air restriction notice and he took off from Denham, Bucks. The Queen’s birthday was in June.

Remnant was “mortified” and he admitted entering controlled air space. He was fined 1,400 pounds.