US: Two planes nearly collide mid-air over Portland airport, probe on
Representative image of an aircraft.
A major air tragedy was averted in the United States after two planes nearly collided mid-air with each other over Portland Airport. An investigation has been launched.
According to a report by the Independent on Monday (Oct 23), the two flights, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 was trying to land and a Skywest Airlines plane took off from Portland International Airport last week during a storm.
As per BAA training, commercial planes flying below 29,000 must maintain a vertical separation of 1,000 feet. Speaking to The Oregonian, an Alaska Airlines spokesperson said that the "crew of Flight 1299 followed cockpit indications and reacted immediately to increase separation from the other aircraft."
“The aircraft maintained a safe amount of lateral separation throughout the entire event,” the spokesperson added.
Skywest, meanwhile, said that at no point, the safety of the flight was compromised. In a statement, the FAA said that while attempting to land at the airport, the pilot of the Alaska aircraft initiated a go-around due to wind and turned towards SkyWest Airlines.
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