I’m just interested in a general understanding of the rules and I assume they’re not all too different in the UK and Holland. I know some of you are not keen on speculations, but I worked on air crash reconstruction animations in the past (for US law suits) and have an interest in these things. Now I’m just trying to make sense of what I saw last weekend. You are welcome to browse any other thread on this forum if this one annoys or offends you. And naturally I am very happy that all turned out fine, so I reckon there’s no harm done discussing this.

27vet, thanks a lot, that’s an interesting document. The bit I had in mind is

9.3.2 Close formation leading is defined as being totally responsible for all aspects of the
safety, terrain clearance, positioning and handling for a number of aircraft that are
formating in close proximity to the lead aircraft.

…but it may not be appropriate in this case, seeing as the photo ship was flying ahead (and perhaps not “close” enough?).

I wonder though… the guy in the dark-coloured Piper appears to be gesturing (in warning?), next the Cessna eases off the power. Misunderstood signalling? (if the pilot looked at the Piper in the first place)
Another video which appears to be showing a last minute warning signal from the Piper pilot: http://nos.nl/video/416640-beelden-vliegtuigbotsing-vanuit-cockpit.html

From my perspective it looked like the Cessna photoship was flying around the banner-carrying Piper aircraft (making it the leader?). The first video suggests different. The second video shows they actually appear to have made an S-turn rather than a 180. I saw the action against the sun and I’d have sworn they were coming back to me. Funny how your point of view makes things look different than they were. Still… it’s pretty clear who flew into who!

Alternative link for the second video: http://nos.nl/video/416584-beeld-van-de-vliegtuigbotsing-wassenaar.html

Very, very lucky guys…!