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http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/kennedy.airport.collision.2.769281.html
Jul 11, 2008 9:56 pm
Near Catastrophe At Kennedy Airport Avoided
FAA Says 2 Commerical Jetliners Came Within 600 Feet Of Midair Collision On Friday, Second Incident In A Week
Delta Flight Aborts Landing, Intersects Flightpath Of Comair Jet
NEW YORK (CBS) ― For the second time in a week a tragedy was just barely avoided at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Two airborne planes -- one landing and the other taking off -- came within a half-mile of colliding on Friday in the second such incident at the airport in a week, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The FAA moved quickly to change takeoff and landing procedures at JFK on perpendicular runways -- the kind of runways involved in both incidents.
FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said a Delta Flight 123 was arriving at the airport Friday when the pilot decided to abort his landing and execute a "go-around" -- a routine procedure often used during heavy congestion. That caused the Delta flight to intersect with the flight path of Comair Flight 1520, a regional jet that was taking off on another runway.
The FAA ordered new procedures Friday afternoon to change the way takeoffs and landings on perpendicular runways are sequenced, Brown said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The new procedures are designed to ensure "that aircraft of one runway clear out of the path of the other runway before the second flight comes down on the other runway," Brown said. "We've had two events recently and I think we want to make sure the appropriate safety margins are in place."
The Delta jet, a Boeing 757, and the Comair plane, a Bombardier CRJ9, came within 600 feet of each other vertically and a half-mile horizontally, the FAA said.
The agency said it was not classifying either incident as a "near collision" because there was no violation of standards for how apart planes can fly, Brown said.
Delta spokeswoman Gina Laughlin initially said the incident took place a week ago, on July 4. However, Laughlin later confirmed that the FAA was correct and that the incident took place on Friday at 1:20 p.m. EDT. Comair is a subsidiary of Delta. Laughlin said she didn't know how many people were aboard the Delta flight, which came from Shannon, Ireland, but the plane seats 170 passengers.
Dean Iacopelli, a representative for the New York National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the FAA has "terminated that perpendicular simultaneous approach procedure."
Friday's incident began when the Delta flight was handed off from the FAA's traffic control center in Westbury, N.Y., to the JFK tower as the plane prepared to land. In the handoff, the Delta pilot apparently wasn't using the communication frequency the flight was assigned to communicate with the JFK tower, Brown said.
The JFK tower and the Delta jet did not establish contact until the flight was 1.5 miles from touching down on the runway, Brown said. The flight was cleared to land by the tower, but the pilot decided to abort the landing, Brown said.
The incident came less than a week after Cayman Airways and LAN Chile jets came within a few hundred feet of each other at JFK. In that incident, one flight was taking off, and the other was landing. However, the FAA downplayed Saturday night's incident and the NTSB launched an investigation.
The FAA said Monday the planes came no closer than 300 feet vertically and no more than a half-mile horizontally.
However, air traffic controllers said the planes came within 100 feet vertically and much closer than a half-mile horizontally, and controllers had to scramble to send them on divergent headings.
At the time, the Cayman flight was also executing a routine go around -- an aborted landing -- while the Chilean plane was departing from a nearby runway.
"Tower controllers intervened to attempt to resolve the conflict, assigning both aircraft diverging headings," an NTSB official said. "The closest proximity of the two aircraft has not yet been determined."
The board said a preliminary report on the incident is expected later this week.
Passengers expressed their concerns over the initial incident and will certainly have more reservations following Friday's second near-collision.
"If I was on board I would be scared to death," said traveler Artie Borova. "It shouldn't happen with all the regulations we have in place."
"Hopefully, it won't happen again – lesson learned and we can move on," added Adele Smith.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Jul 11, 2008 9:56 pm
Near Catastrophe At Kennedy Airport Avoided
FAA Says 2 Commerical Jetliners Came Within 600 Feet Of Midair Collision On Friday, Second Incident In A Week
Delta Flight Aborts Landing, Intersects Flightpath Of Comair Jet
NEW YORK (CBS) ― For the second time in a week a tragedy was just barely avoided at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Two airborne planes -- one landing and the other taking off -- came within a half-mile of colliding on Friday in the second such incident at the airport in a week, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The FAA moved quickly to change takeoff and landing procedures at JFK on perpendicular runways -- the kind of runways involved in both incidents.
FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said a Delta Flight 123 was arriving at the airport Friday when the pilot decided to abort his landing and execute a "go-around" -- a routine procedure often used during heavy congestion. That caused the Delta flight to intersect with the flight path of Comair Flight 1520, a regional jet that was taking off on another runway.
The FAA ordered new procedures Friday afternoon to change the way takeoffs and landings on perpendicular runways are sequenced, Brown said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The new procedures are designed to ensure "that aircraft of one runway clear out of the path of the other runway before the second flight comes down on the other runway," Brown said. "We've had two events recently and I think we want to make sure the appropriate safety margins are in place."
The Delta jet, a Boeing 757, and the Comair plane, a Bombardier CRJ9, came within 600 feet of each other vertically and a half-mile horizontally, the FAA said.
The agency said it was not classifying either incident as a "near collision" because there was no violation of standards for how apart planes can fly, Brown said.
Delta spokeswoman Gina Laughlin initially said the incident took place a week ago, on July 4. However, Laughlin later confirmed that the FAA was correct and that the incident took place on Friday at 1:20 p.m. EDT. Comair is a subsidiary of Delta. Laughlin said she didn't know how many people were aboard the Delta flight, which came from Shannon, Ireland, but the plane seats 170 passengers.
Dean Iacopelli, a representative for the New York National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the FAA has "terminated that perpendicular simultaneous approach procedure."
Friday's incident began when the Delta flight was handed off from the FAA's traffic control center in Westbury, N.Y., to the JFK tower as the plane prepared to land. In the handoff, the Delta pilot apparently wasn't using the communication frequency the flight was assigned to communicate with the JFK tower, Brown said.
The JFK tower and the Delta jet did not establish contact until the flight was 1.5 miles from touching down on the runway, Brown said. The flight was cleared to land by the tower, but the pilot decided to abort the landing, Brown said.
The incident came less than a week after Cayman Airways and LAN Chile jets came within a few hundred feet of each other at JFK. In that incident, one flight was taking off, and the other was landing. However, the FAA downplayed Saturday night's incident and the NTSB launched an investigation.
The FAA said Monday the planes came no closer than 300 feet vertically and no more than a half-mile horizontally.
However, air traffic controllers said the planes came within 100 feet vertically and much closer than a half-mile horizontally, and controllers had to scramble to send them on divergent headings.
At the time, the Cayman flight was also executing a routine go around -- an aborted landing -- while the Chilean plane was departing from a nearby runway.
"Tower controllers intervened to attempt to resolve the conflict, assigning both aircraft diverging headings," an NTSB official said. "The closest proximity of the two aircraft has not yet been determined."
The board said a preliminary report on the incident is expected later this week.
Passengers expressed their concerns over the initial incident and will certainly have more reservations following Friday's second near-collision.
"If I was on board I would be scared to death," said traveler Artie Borova. "It shouldn't happen with all the regulations we have in place."
"Hopefully, it won't happen again – lesson learned and we can move on," added Adele Smith.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
