An Italian-registered microlight used to spot irregular migration movements had a near miss with an Air Malta plane on Saturday afternoon as it made an unannounced emergency landing at Malta International Airport (MIA).

Although the microlight had come directly in the flight path of an Air Malta plane as it was also attempting to land, the incident fortunately played out with no serious consequences.

The microlight in question is occasionally deployed, on a voluntary basis, to survey for irregular migration in the area and had been forced to undertake an emergency landing at MIA. The pilot, however, did not have the correct radio frequencies with which to contact Air Traffic Control (ATC).

Contacted yesterday, sources close to the MIA explained the pilot had made several attempts to establish contact with the Maltese air traffic authorities to request permission for an emergency landing, but to no avail.

As contact was trying to be established, prevailing winds drained the microlight of fuel and, once empty, the pilot decided to attempt a landing although the Malta ATC had not been warned.

The emergency landing came straight into the flight path of an Air Malta plane as it was also landing. Fortunately, the Air Malta pilot had detected the troubled microlight in its flight path, both on radar as well as visually, and duly informed air traffic control.

Both aircraft eventually landed safely. MIA and the Civil Aviation Authority both carried out internal investigations, while the police conducted an official inquiry.