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Two planes pass within 90 metres at Baltimore Wash. International Airport

Dec. 10, 2007, Linthicum, Maryland - Two passenger jets passed within 90 metres of each other while one was landing and the other was taking off at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport last week.


December 10, 2007  By Carey Fredericks

Dec. 10, 2007, Linthicum, Maryland – Two passenger jets passed within 90 metres
of each other while one was landing and the other was taking off at
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport last
week, a U.S. aviation official said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the
incident, which occurred at the intersection of two runways Sunday
night.

The near-collision occurred the same week that congressional
investigators released a report that found air travellers face a
high risk of a catastrophic collision on U.S. airport runways
because of faltering federal leadership, malfunctioning technology
and overworked air traffic controllers.

The Government Accountability Office said that in the fiscal year
that ended Sept. 30, there were 370 runway incursions _ an aircraft,
vehicle or person that enters a space reserved for takeoff or
landing.

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In Sunday's incident, a ComAir flight taking off from the airport
flew over an America West plane that had just landed, Federal
Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said.

The investigation is focusing on possible mistakes by air traffic
controllers, and not pilot error, the spokesman said.

There were 46 people aboard ComAir Flight 5412, and 155 people on
the U.S. Airways/America West Flight 83.

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