An Aer Lingus flight with over 300 passengers aboard came "within seconds" of a collision earlier this month, it emerged today.
An investigation into the incident at Logan Airport in Boston on June 9 thin which an Aer Lingus flight bound for Dublin via Shannon was involved in a near-miss with a US Airways flight, was launched by US aviation officials. Publication of a preliminary report was due today but has been delayed until next week.
The Aer Lingus Airbus A330 had 328 passengers and crew aboard may have come as close as 200 feet of a US Airways Boeing 737 carrying 103 passengers bound for Philadelphia.
The Boston Globetoday quotes an unnamed air traffic controller saying the planes were "exceptionally close". A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman is quoted saying the planes "came within seconds" of each other and confirmed the Aer Lingus pilot had filed a near-collision report - which is required when planes come within 500 feet of each other.
The incident occurred at 7.37 am local time on June 9 th.The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) was informed at the time and is awaiting the outcome of the US investigation before deciding on whether it should investigate.
"We were informed at the time in accordance with normal procedures but we’re not carrying out an investigation at this time because it happened in another jurisdiction," an IAA spokeswoman said.
The authority would only have reason to act if a question arose about the proper operation of the Aer Lingus flight.
The FAA is blaming "an operational error" at air traffic control when two flights were cleared for take-off on intersecting runways at the same time.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release a preliminary report next week. A spokesman said the "final, factual report" would take approximately six months.
It is unclear whether passengers were aware of the incident. The flight continued onto Shannon without stopping, the FAA said.
ireland.comwas unable to make contact with an Aer Lingus spokesperson.