El Cochinito
May 24, 04, 2:45 pm
Air New Zealand and Qantas aircraft carrying 268 people between them came close to disaster after a traffic control blunder over a remote part of Indonesia.
A collision between the two Boeing 767s was averted only after the Air NZ crew noticed the Qantas jet climbing into their air space off the coast of Irian Jaya west of Papua New Guinea.
One of the pilots on the Qantas Boeing is said to have told his wife afterwards he thought he was about to die as the aircraft hurtled towards each other at a combined speed of about 940 knots (1740kph).
Rest of story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2916556a10,00.html
The article says that the Qantas 767 came within 122m of the Air New Zealand 767's assigned altitude of 36,000 feet and there was only 800m horizontal separation. Article also alludes to the "fishfinder" (TCAS) alarm going off in which the pilots fortunately followed its instructions.
A collision between the two Boeing 767s was averted only after the Air NZ crew noticed the Qantas jet climbing into their air space off the coast of Irian Jaya west of Papua New Guinea.
One of the pilots on the Qantas Boeing is said to have told his wife afterwards he thought he was about to die as the aircraft hurtled towards each other at a combined speed of about 940 knots (1740kph).
Rest of story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2916556a10,00.html
The article says that the Qantas 767 came within 122m of the Air New Zealand 767's assigned altitude of 36,000 feet and there was only 800m horizontal separation. Article also alludes to the "fishfinder" (TCAS) alarm going off in which the pilots fortunately followed its instructions.