Near Miss

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    Russian Military Jet in ‘Near-Collision’ with SAS Passenger Plane

    SASOn December 12, an SAS flight taking off from Copenhagen, Denmark, had to change course in order to avoid a Russian military intelligence jet flying south of Sweden.

    The SAS flight, en-route to Poznan, Poland, was asked to change course due to a Russian military plane which was flying in the international airspace with its transponder turned-off.

    Regarding the incident as “serious, inappropriate and dangerous”, Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said, “Flying without a transponder means that you can’t say where a plane is located…The risk of an accident is very high.”

    According to Nicolai Wammen, Denmark’s Defense minister, “It is dangerous and completely unnecessary that Russian military aircraft fly so close to civil air traffic in the Baltic Sea. The safety of passengers must always come first, and Russia must respect that.”

    Following the incident, Sweden and Denmark have summoned Russian ambassadors to register the complaint at official level.

    Spokesperson of Russian Defense ministry, Igor Konashenkov, has rejected the claims saying, “The flight was being made strictly in compliance with international airspace rules, not violating borders of other countries and at a safe distance from traffic routes of civilian aircraft.”

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    Near Miss in Barcelona Captured

    snapshot from video below
    snapshot from video below

    On July 5, 2014, an Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus A340-300 (LV-FPV) headed from Barcelona,SP (Spain) to Buenos Aires,BA (Argentina) was taxiing for departure as a UTAir Boeing 767-300(VQ-BSX) en route from Moscow, Russia to Barcelona was on approach. As the video shows, it looks like a close call. The UTAIR saw the Airbus on the runway, and less than ten seconds from touchdown pulled up and performed a go-around, making a safe landing fifteen minutes later.

    The Airbus took off twenty minutes later. The incident is under investigation, and it has not been determined if this was an Air Traffic Control error or if the Argentinian plane was there without clearance. The airport and ATC say that there was sufficient clearance for landing, and neither Aerolineas Argentinas nor UTAIR filed a safety report.

    On Jul 7th 2014,an investigation was opened into the runway incursion.

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    Australia: Near Miss

    Two planes that had a near miss avoided a collision by about 700 vertical feet were over Perth when one of the pilot’s collision collision alarm alerted him of the impending collision.

    Flight QF581 from Sydney to Perth had gotten permission from ATC to go from 38,000ft which put them on a collision course with incoming QF 576.

    Both planes swerved out of the way over Gulf St. Vincent.

    Qantas Airbus A330-200, flight QF-576 was en route from Perth,WA to Sydney,NS. Qantas Airbus A330-200 was from Sydney,NS to Perth,WA. ATC gave clearance to QF581 whose pilot had averted disaster by the time clearance was rescinded.

    The “loss of separation” incident is under investigation.

    According to the vice-president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, TCAS typically warns about 25 seconds out.

    * ACAS / TCAS (In-cockpit) TA alerts when there is a risk of collision in 40 seconds.


    Video

    TCAS ALERT

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    Qantas Near Miss over Darwin Under ATSB Investigation

    What: Qantas Boeing 737-800 en route from Darwin to Melbourne
    What: Qantas Boeing 717 arriving en route from Alice Springs to Darwin
    Where: Darwin
    When: Oct 2, 2012
    Who: (up to) 295 aboard
    Why: Two Qantas flights came to within 250 metres of each other over Darwin were caught not by the human ATC, but only by the traffic collision avoidance system on board the plane from Alice Springs. The system reported the other plane was 247 metres below.

    An investigation is currently underway to determine if the Darwin a defence air traffic controller sent the jets on a collision course.

    The Qantas-badged 717 was operated by Cobham, a flight contractor.

    See the ATSB Investigation on Loss of separation assurance VH-NXQ / QFA A839, near Darwin NT, 2 October 2012 Investigation Number:AO-2012-131

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    Reagan National Airport Near Miss

    What: US Airways en route from Washington
    What: US Airways en route from Washington
    What: US Airways en route to Washington
    Where: Reagan National Airport, Washington
    When: July 31, 2012 2:00 pm
    Who: 192 aboard
    Why: One US Airways plane had been rerouted into Washington’s Reagan international airport. Its route had been changed in Warrenton, Va due to an approaching storm. The problem is that no one apparently told Reagan National and that rerouted plane was scheduled to land into two US Airways Jets that were taking off.

    Warrenton, Va ATC changed courses due to weather and wind patterns.

    Reagan Airport ATC caught the potential collision 12 seconds before it happened and rerouted the incoming jet.

    See Video below