Two passenger planes nearly collided midair - with 400 people on board between them - before landing in Phoenix, and now the FAA is investigating.
The incident, involving United Airlines Flight 1724 traveling from San Francisco and Delta Air Lines Flight 1070 traveling from Detroit, occurred around 11 a.m. January 11, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The planes experienced “a loss of required separation” when they were heading toward Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the agency said.
At one point, both aircraft were just 425 feet apart vertically, and less than a second later, they were less than a quarter of a mile apart horizontally, CBS News reported.
Both flight crews received onboard alerts that the other aircraft was nearby and air traffic control issued “corrective instructions” to the crews, the agency noted. Both planes landed safely.
The United flight was carrying 123 passengers and six crew members and the Delta flight was carrying 245 passengers.
An air traffic controller tells he United flight to land on Runway 7 and then told the Delta flight to shift and land on Runway 8, audio obtained by CBS News showed. A robotic voice can be heard on the Delta flight saying: “Descend. Descend.”
Justin Giddens saw the close call in the skies from the ground and filmed it.
“My first reactions were just shocked and suprised that two commercial airliners with hundreds of people on them were on a converging path,” Giddens told ABC News.
The FAA said it is investigating the incident.
Pilots on the United flight received an “automated flight deck warning” to change altitude, a United spokesperson told The Independent in a statement.
Plane tracking website FlightAware tracking of the United flight captured the altitude shift just before landing.
“The pilots acted immediately and landed safely. We’re working with the FAA on its investigation,” the statement read
A Delta spokesperson told The Independent in a statement:“As nothing is more important than safety, Delta flight crews extensively train to handle uncommon scenarios such as this and followed the resolution advisory as directed.”
The Independent has reached out to Delta for comment.
