RAF and heli pilots report close calls with uncharted Scottish wind turbines

21st Century Scottish landscape

Wind Watch News highlights a press report on the problems faced by ‘low flyers’ due to large numbers of wind turbines sprouting up without warning near their flying routes over the Scottish mainland.

A “shocking” military dossier reveals a catalogue of potentially catastrophic air safety incidents, many of them related to unlit turbines and new or uncharted developments. However, the Ministry of Defence withheld more information on national security grounds meaning the real number could be much higher.

Last night, campaigners called for an urgent review of the mapping and lighting of wind turbines to prevent a fatal crash involving a low-flying aircraft. The 59 near-misses were classified from negligible to high in terms of severity with 15 cases – most of them from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray – in the high-risk category.