עראפלאן עקסידענטס אין סכנה'ס

האט איר שוין אדארכגעלעבט א שרעקידיגע מינוט ווען איר זענט געווען א פאסעדזיר אויף א עראפלאן למשל א מאטאר האט געברענט אין מען האט זיך צירוקגעדרייט וכדומה

ווער געדענקט נאך ווען דער רבי שליט"א האט איבערגעלעבט מיט טאווער עיר אויפן וועג קיין פלארידא דא האט איר נאך א מעשה מיט א איזראעלי פליגער וואס האט לעצטענס פאסירט

New York-WABC, , 2005 ) - The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a harrowing near hit at JFK Airport. It happened when a passenger plane took a wrong turn on the runway, missing a cargo plane that was taking off by just a matter of 75 feet. Eyewitness News' Jim Hoffer is here with his exclusive story.


The Investigators
Click here to send them an Email!
Eyewitness News' Award-Winning Investigative Team Click to Read More of their Reports

This is about as close as two planes can get without colliding. A rainy, foggy night, a warning system not working, and a pilot lost on the runway, all converged to come within feet of calamity. Now for the first time, we hear the communications between the pilots and air traffic controllers seconds after the near collision.
The air traffic control tape reveals just how close to disaster two jets came on a JFK runway last month.

Tape Audio: "Left bravo hold short echo"

The Boeing 767 with 262 passengers aboard was supposed to make a left turn to taxi to the end of the runway to takeoff. Instead the passenger jet failed to make the turn and went straight onto an active runway into the path of an airborne express cargo plane. The cargo plane was going 115 miles per hour, too fast to stop in time.

Fortunately, the pilot managed to pull the nose up and take-off early, flying over the passenger plane by about 75 feet.

Cargo Pilot: "There's an aircraft on the runway... Two fifty-seven, did you see the aircraft on runway 22r?"

Controller: "I can't see a thing but he's calling me now."

The air traffic control audio tape clearly shows the panic in the voice of the Israeli pilot when he realizes he had crossed into the path of the departing cargo plane.

Israir pilot: "Isair 102...he's taking off."
Controller: "Isair 102 are you clear?"
Isair Pilot: "We are clear now of runway. We are on delta 10. We crossed the runway."
Controller: "You crossed the runway?"
Isair Pilot: "We crossed the runway by mistake. We're on the opposite side of the runway."

Barrett Brynes/JFK air traffic controller: "The captain thinks they flew over the top of israir aircraft by 70 feet but the tail only cleared the plane by 30."

Air traffic controller Barrett Brynes says the two planes missed colliding simply by the shear grace of God and a lot of luck.

Byrnes: "The aircraft had not an ounce of cargo on it. So, had he had the cargo in it or if the pilot didn't use full power he would have ripped right through the fuselage of the Israir aircraft."

A radar alert system that's suppose to prevent ground collisions never sounded that night. It had been deactivated because it gives false warnings during bad weather. The FAA says the system has prevented collisions in the past and that newer alert technology is currently being tested.