AIR CRASH RESCUE NEWS:
August 16, 2001 - Two Jets Have Close Call in Dallas
GRAPEVINE, Texas (USA) - A Delta pilot hurried his takeoff to avoid another
jet that was crossing the same runway Thursday, officials said. The planes
missed each other by 500 feet.
The Delta 737 had been cleared for departure about 10:30 a.m. at Dallas-Fort
Worth International Airport, FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said.
A Continental 737 that had just landed was told to cross over the same
runway, airline spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said.
``The pilots were aware by the time they got on the runway that the Delta
plane was on the runway and they expedited their crossing of that runway,''
Johnson said.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said the Delta
jet scraped its tail on the runway in the pilot's attempt to rise over the
Continental jet. It returned to the airport for an inspection by ground
crews.
Herwig said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National
Transportation Safety Board were investigating the incident. Flight data
recorders on both planes were shipped to an NTSB laboratory.
Johnson said there were 55 passengers and five crew members aboard the
Continental flight from Cleveland. Passengers exited at the gate normally and
the plane later departed for Newark, N.J., after routine checks, he said.
The Delta flight to Oakland carried 125 passengers and a crew of five.
