Jaunted

Close Call at LAX

8/24/2007 at 8:45 AM
Tags: LAX, Airlines, Airports, NWA, WestJet (all tags)

This has not been the year for airlines. From day-long delays to canceled flights, 2007 has been the ultimate disaster. But things keep getting worse: It seems two planes missed colliding on the runway at LAX by less than 40 feet. Forty feet! Sure, no one was hurt--and that's good--but we thought the only planes that dared to get that close were the Rockin' Blue Angels.

WestJet and Northwest must have been auditioning for the part as they passed within 37 feet of each other. As an NWA Airbus accelerated for takeoff, the pilot of a WestJet Boeing switched radio frequencies and got instructions to cross the active runway. Believe it or not, stuff like this happens pretty frequently: this is the seventh so-called runway incursion at LAX in less than a year.

Related Stories:
· Feds Investigate Close Call at LAX [CNN]
· 2 Planes that Nearly Collided at LAX [LAT]

[Photo: diongillard]