Jan 5, 2007 6:24 pm US/Mountain
Bad Weather Contributes To Close Call At DIA
By CBS4 Producer Raetta Holdman
DENVER (CBS4) ―
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Denver International Airport
CBS4
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a near miss involving two airplanes at
Denver International Airport on Friday. The incident happened at about 7:30 a.m.
Bad weather at the time contributed to the incident.
Frontier Airlines flight 297 had flown out of low clouds and was about to land on Runway 35 Left. The flight crew then suddenly spotted a
Key Lime airplane on that runway.
The Frontier flight crew immediately executed a "missed approach" approach and the estimated that the planes were within 50 feet of each other.
An automated system alerted the control tower of the problem at the same time the Frontier crew saw the Key Lime flight. Weather at the time was one-half mile visibility with a ceiling of 600 feet overcast with snow and mist in the area.
Key Lime did would not comment on the incident, citing an ongoing investigation.
Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said he also could not comment, beyond saying that the Frontier pilot's forethought likely averted what could have been a potentially bad situation.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating in the investigation. An FAA spokesman said the federal investigation was launched because the distance stated between the planes was just speculation.
The spokesman pointed out there are systems in place for this type of situation and that everyone in the tower and on the ground did an excellent job.
The Frontier plane was an Airbus A-319 that was inbound from St. Louis. The Key Lime flight was a Swearingen Metroliner. It had flown to Denver from Garfield County Regional Airport, according to the website Flightaware.com.
Neither airline would say how many passengers were on the planes. No injuries were reported in the incident.
(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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