American Airlines Pilot Skillfully Averts Midair Collision with United Airlines Plane

Certainly, this is going to be discussed.

In an incident in mid-July, an American Airlines pilot had to maneuver his plane 700 feet to avoid a midair collision with a United flight.

Word of the near-miss comes a day after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered nearly 90 airports to conduct emergency meetings about the growing rate of near-collisions.

The American Airlines pilot had to abruptly adjust by raising his altitude. According to the New York Times, the incident took place when an air traffic controller directed the two planes on the same path.

A current air traffic controller told the Times, “It is only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens.”

The FAA is short about 1,200 air traffic controllers and the current ones are working double shifts, or six days a week, to make up for the shortfall. A collision warning light and sound went off in the cockpit of the American Airlines plane and saved the two from disaster.

Shortly after the American Airlines plane adjusted its altitude, the United flight passed below it underneath.

United Airlines acknowledged the incident happened but said the two planes were more than 3 miles apart. United also said the FAA only considers it a potential midair collision when two planes come within 500 feet of each other.

The incident was pointed out in a broader investigation of near-collisions by the Times.

Let’s hope stories of near-misses midair will come to an end soon.