Investigators say two Boeing 747s came close to crashing over Scotland in June after their pilots confused air traffic control instructions for avoiding a collision.
A newly released report by the UK Airprox Board shows that the four pilots involved in the incident mistakenly followed instructions meant for the other crew, BBC News reported.
Air-traffic controllers issued separate instructions to the pilots intended to move the jumbo jets further apart, but the pilots did the opposite, bringing the 747s closer together.
"The pilots of the aircraft on converging tracks flew into conflict because, although they acknowledged timely avoiding action, they did not follow it," the report said.
Sky News reported that investigators are at a loss to explain how the crews of both aircraft either misinterpreted or their orders during the incident, which occurred June 23.
"The board was surprised that all four pilots had misheard or misinterpreted the avoiding action instructions despite at least one of the crews reading them back correctly," the report said.
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