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The incident occurred when a Boeing 737, callsign SAB 603, initiated a missed approach from Runway 27 Left (27L) at London Heathrow (LHR). The air traffic controller of SAB 603, who was operating as the Air Arrivals controller, asked his colleague, the Air Departures controller sitting adjacent, for information on departing aircraft. The Air Departures controller who was working under the supervision of a Mentor, informed Air Arrivals that an Air France aircraft, callsign AFR 813, was airborne on a 'Midhurst' Standard Instrument Departure (SID). The Mentor also indicated to the Air Arrivals controller both verbally and by signs that AFR 813 would be turned to the right onto a north-westerly track. The Air Arrivals controller then turned SAB 603 right onto a heading of 310 degrees. Shortly afterwards, the Mentor heard the Air Arrivals controller announcing that he had turned SAB 603 onto 310 degrees and immediately informed him that a British Airways aircraft, callsign BAW 818, was also airborne on a 'Brookmans Park' SID. The two controllers then instructed their respective aircraft to alter heading and noted from their Air Traffic Monitor (ATM) screens that the two aircraft symbols were very close. Subsequent calculations revealed that the minimum separation was 200 feet vertically and 0.16 nm horizontally when the highest aircraft was at 2,400 feet agl. All the flight crews involved in the incident complied fully and correctly with ATC instructions. At the time of the incident, both SAB 603 and BAW 818 were in cloud and none of the crew members in either aircraft saw the other.