Jul 8, 2008 1:48 pm US/Eastern
NTSB To Probe Near Collision Over JFK Airport
NEW YORK (AP) ―
The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday it is investigating a near collision of two airborne jetliners at Kennedy Airport in New York over the weekend.
The NTSB said initial reports indicate Cayman Airways flight 792, a Boeing 737-300, and Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile flight 533, a Boeing 767-300, almost collided on Saturday at 8:36 p.m. EDT.
Federal Aviation Administration officials said Monday the planes came no closer than 300 feet vertically and no more than a half-mile horizontally.
But 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 executing a routine "go around" -- an aborted landing, usually ordered by the control tower during periods of heavy congestion -- while the Chilean plane was departing from a nearby runway.
"Tower controllers intervened to attempt to resolve the conflict, assigning both aircraft diverging headings," NTSB 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.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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