Jets Came Within 35 Feet Of Colliding

The National Transportation Safety Board says a near-miss between an airliner and a cargo jet this summer was a lot closer than first reported.

As Aero-News reported, a United Airlines 737 was cleared for takeoff at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport July 23, just as an Atlas 747 was landing on a crossing runway. The pilot aboard the 737 saw the jumbo jet too late to abort, and chose to rotate early to avoid the collision.

Early reports said the two aircraft were never closer than 300 feet. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, however... a new NTSB report says they missed by only 35 feet.

The controller who cleared the United flight is heard to say STOP, STOP, STOP on the tower tapes as the aircraft passed each other.

NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said the incident "could have been catastrophic had the airmen not been skilled and not been lucky. Luck is not a way to run a safety system."

The airport's ground alerting system wasn't operating at the time... but the NTSB says that doesn't matter. The system wouldn't have given enough warning to avoid the incident.

The NTSB also released a Flash animation reenactment of the event, available for download at the FMI link below.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/Events/2006/MostWantedFed/AnimationDescription.htm