NTSB Probes Near Midair Collision in New York

Air Safety Week, July 14, 2008

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating a near midair collision near New York City on July 5.

At 8:36 pm EDT, Cayman Airways Flight 792, a Boeing 737-300, and Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile Flight 533, a Boeing 767-300, almost collided over New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), according to initial reports.

The Cayman Airways jetliner, on approach to runway 22L, was executing a missed approach and conflicted with the Linea Aeroea Navional de Chile aircraft that was departing runway 13R. Tower controllers intervened to resolve the conflict.

According to preliminary radar data, the closest proximity of the two aircraft was slightly over 1/2 mile laterally and 200 feet vertically, the NTSB's preliminary incident report noted. At the time of the incident, the weather was VFR with six miles visibility and haze. There were no reported injuries or damage to the aircraft.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) said the paths of both jets crossed. As air traffic controllers tell it, the situation was dire. Controllers at both JFK Tower and New York Tracon used the words 'ugly' and 'very scary' to describe the incident. "One Tracon controller said it was the ugliest go-around they had seen in 24 years on the job," the controllers union said.

Air traffic controllers at New York Terminal Radar Approach Control in Westbury, N.Y., which handles airborne flights into and out of JFK, estimated their closest proximity at 100 feet. Other TRACON controllers said the radar targets of both jets merged into one on their scopes.

[Copyright 2006 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.]