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Jets in near miss at LA airport
17/08/2007 13:06 - (SA)
Los Angeles - Two commercial jets - one traveling at 240kph - nearly collided on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, officials said.
The close call at about 13:00 appeared to have been caused by mistakes made by both the arriving pilot and a ground traffic controller, said Ian Gregor, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration.
A WestJet Boeing 737 landing from Calgary, Canada, which seats up to 132 passengers, came as close as 15m from striking a 150-seat Northwest Airbus A320 that was taking off.
The Northwest jet was travelling about 240kph when the WestJet craft approached its path. The WestJet plane managed to stop just in time to avoid a crash.
No one was hurt, authorities said. An investigation was under way.
Gregor said the arriving pilot was on the wrong radio frequency and unable to receive directions from the air traffic controller.
When the pilot then notified the ground traffic controller that the plane was approaching the gate, the ground controller cleared him without checking first with the air traffic controller.
The "runway incursion" was the eighth such incident at LAX this year, matching the total for all of 2006.
- AP
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