A single-engine Cessna aircraft almost collided with a Delta Boeing 757 passenger jet over Orlando International Airport in an incident which is currently being investigated by the FAA.
Video footage, filmed from within the cabin of the Cessna, shows the pilot’s quick reaction to the situation. He pulled the plane up over the rapidly climbing jet ro avoid a collision which could have seen mass casualties.
The two planes managed to avoid each other by about 500 feet, due to the pilot of the Cessna, Malik Clarke, taking “evasive action” to avoid the much larger passenger plane.
“I knew that this didn’t look right,” Mr Clarke told ABC News, recalling how he noticed the plane ascending towards him on 17 August.
“So immediately I turned right and I climbed as steeply as I could - because the Boeing 757 from Delta has a much higher climb rate than the aircraft that I was flying,” he continued.
“If I hadn’t done that evasive manoeuvre, it’s quite likely there would have been a midair collision,” Mr Clarke went on.
He then explained how he was no longer in contact with air traffic control at the time of the incident, having just switched frequencies, so had to take matters into his own hands.
A video posted on social media by Mr Clarke shows the Boeing 757 plane flying dangerously close to the small aircraft, which was only carrying Mr Clarke at the time.
Both pilots spoke to air traffic control immediately after the near-miss.
The FAA has released a transcript of the correspondence in its investigation. According to the transcript, pilots of both aircraft reported having had the other in sight.
Delta has also said that it is conducting its own internal investigation into the near-miss. The Independent has contacted the airline for comment.
The news comes just days after a private Cessna plane crashed off the coast of Latvia into the Baltic Sea.
Four people are feared dead after the private jet “carrying a family of three” disappeared.
