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FAA investigates possible near-miss at JFK
‘No report of any such encounter,’ official says; airline calls report false
NEW YORK - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is looking into a claim by air traffic controllers that two planes — one departing and one landing — came within about 100 feet of a collision at New York's Kennedy Airport over the weekend.
"As of this time, we have no report of any such encounter," FAA spokeswoman Lynn Tierney said Monday. But as a precaution, "We are pulling the tapes" to determine what, if anything, took place.
A spokeswoman for LAN-Chile, one of the airlines the controllers said was involved, said the report was false.
National Air Traffic Controllers Association spokesman Barrett Byrnes said Cayman Airways Flight 792 executed a routine "go-around" — pulling up at the last minute instead of landing — around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Meanwhile, LAN Flight 533 was leaving from a perpendicular runway, he said.
Byrnes said the controller ordered the inbound pilot to take a hard left and the outbound a hard right, avoiding a collision.
The controllers said Kennedy is among a number of airports that use perpendicular runways simultaneously, and the incident is an example of why the practice should be stopped.
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