The British Ministry of Defence has had to pay out £177’000 in compensation after low flying RAF fighters caused damage to cars, injuries to horses and in at least one case, were responsible for killing a cow, in Scotland STV News reported. Some 47 incidents between now and the start of 2013, including the aforementioned killing of a cow in the Dumfries and Galloway area, has resulted in a string of claims which the MoD has settled.
Other animals including Horses, have been injured when low flying fighters have caused them to panic. In Edinburgh a car’s windows were shattered by a passing Eurofighter Typhoon, STV said, resulting in £3’500 worth of damage while in Wester Ross a house window had to be replaced at a cost of £300.
Scotland, which is far less populated than England, is a favourite training area for the RAF. The valleys and glens of the highlands are used frequently, but the number of incidents has grown in recent years. A collision between two Tornadoes claimed the lives of three pilots, while another Tornado crew was forced to pull a low level loop in 2013 in order to avoid the wake from their engines sending a glider careening into the ground.
Northern England also sees training flights but rarely as close to the ground. The MoD stresses that while it seeks to avoid disruption, low level flight training is essential. All of the RAF’s campaigns since the start of the century have seen a greater focus on air to ground attacks.
