An airliner came within seconds of crashing in thick fog at Guernsey Airport last summer as its pilots struggled to understand each other, an official report has revealed.

Aurigny Air flight GR651, which had 57 people aboard, came within moments of hitting the ground after its pilots continued trying to land far beyond the point at which they should have diverted elsewhere, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

The co-pilot, whose identity is unknown, even suggested afterwards that he had to seize the controls from the 56-year-old captain to climb back to a safe altitude.

Instead of breaking off their attempt to land at Guernsey, in fog so thick that visibility was as low as 325 metres (350yds), the Lithuanian-registered aircraft – chartered from operator Jump Air – ended up over the airport’s runway at just 60ft, the AAIB said.

Had the pilots not finally pulled up at that point, they would have hit the ground just 6.8 seconds later. 

GPS recordings showed how the airliner drifted sideways away from the runway, passing over trees and a house as its struggling pilots eventually pulled up.

While no one on the Aug 12 flight was injured, the “serious incident” raises questions about how well aviation standards are enforced.