Airliner Diverts To Alternate Airport After Go-Around, Reported Near-Miss

The FAA and officials at Gary/Chicago International Airport are working to make heads or tails out of an unusual situation last weekend involving a SkyValue USA 737.

The Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune reports SkyValue Flight 512, inbound from Mesa, AZ, was on approach to land Friday at the airport behind a Cessna Citation. SkyValue officials said their plane began to overtake the slower bizjet, and that air traffic controllers told the 737 to break off its approach and circle around.

"Normally this would be a non-event. It happens all the time," SkyValue Chief Operations Officer Don Millroy told the paper.

Here's where it gets odd, though. Millroy said the captain of the SkyValue plane asked how long they'd be in the air... and received no reply from the contract control tower at GYY. After one circuit of the field, the pilot decided to fly to South Bend to refuel.

Millroy did not know how much fuel the 737 had onboard; he estimated about an hour's worth. FAA regulations require a 45-minute reserve.

"It is the captain's prerogative. Rather than circle in the air, he decided to go to South Bend, refuel and come back," Millroy said.

Adding to the mystery were reports from several passengers onboard the 737, that their plane came too close to the Citation while on approach to GYY. FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said no reports were filed regarding a loss of separation, but added the FAA has pulled the tapes and will investigate the incident.

Airport director Chris Curry maintains the SkyValue plane contacted the GYY control tower seven miles before it reached the airport, and that the airliner never violated the three miles separation rule.

"It wasn't a near miss as has been reported," Curry told the Northwest Indiana Times, adding the SkyValue pilot opted to continue on to South Bend -- 50 nautical miles east of Gary -- due to fuel concerns if multiple diversions were necessary.

The plane refueled in South Bend, and flew back to Gary, Curry said.

FMI: www.flyskyvalue.com, www.faa.gov