Two planes narrowly avoided a collision in a scary moment above the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport over the weekend.
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told People that the near-miss happened at around 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11. Delta Air Lines Flight 1070 and United Airlines Flight 1724 experienced “a loss of required separation,” said the administration.
The FAA is currently investigating the incident and looking into how the planes got so close to one another to begin with.
According to local news outlet KPNX, the Delta flight, an Airbus A330-300 coming from Detroit, had 245 passengers. The United flight a Boeing 737-900 coming from San Francisco, had 123.
The FAA Is Currently Investigating the Near-Collision
Thankfully, the near-tragedy ended with no injuries or fatalities. Both planes eventually landed safely.
The FAA explained that crews on both planes received alerts “that the other aircraft was nearby. Air traffic control at the airport was able to provide “corrective instructions to both flight crews. the FAA statement explains.
The incident was captured in photos by Arizona resident and aviation enthusiast Justin Giddens. He told another local outlet, KTVK, that he went into “immediate panic mode” when he noticed the planes’ flight path and near-collision.
“I know the way the planes are supposed to be in the pattern on approach to Sky Harbor,” he explained. “The big and the small plane kind of make it look like they were a lot further apart, [but] it was very, very close.”
United Airlines said in a statement to People that they were collaborating with the FAA in their investigation. They their pilots responded “immediately” to the proximity alert, and landed the plane “safely” at Phoenix.
Delta added, “As nothing is more important than safety, Delta flight crews extensively train to handle uncommon scenarios such as this and followed the resolution advisory as directed.”