Airliners escape near collision in Ben Gurion Airport
Incident comes only 24 hours after a Russian plane nearly landed on the wrong airport strip.
By Zohar Blumenkrantz Tags: Ben Gurion Airport El Al Israel newsTwo airliners were involved in a near collision in Ben Gurion International Airport on Thursday, Israel Airports Authority said Monday, in the second serious air-safety incident in 24 hours.
The IAA reported that a landing Lufthansa passenger passed dangerously close to an El Al jetliner about to take off, adding that the two flight controllers implicated in the episode were both reassigned in its wake.
An initial investigation conducted on the day of the near collision concluded that the alleged proximity between the two airliners "did not indicate a safety incident had occurred."
However, a closer inspection of the incident, which included the inspection of radar recordings as well as recordings of the communication between the pilots and the control tower, revealed that "the proximity between the planes indicated that a safety incident had occurred."
"As a result of the findings of preliminary investigation conducted right after the event, as well as of the findings of the in depth probe conducted later on, it was decided that the controllers on duty during the incident would not continue in their positions," the IAA said.
The incident came only 24 ours after a Russian Transaero plane began landing in the direction of the sea on Tuesday, when the pilot apparently became confused and was directed south by air traffic controllers.
When the plane approached the landing strip a second time, air traffic controllers noticed that the aircraft had again missed the strip; the pilot was redirected for a second time, and then managed to land as planned.
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but it doesn't have much to do with the ongoing safety issues at Ben Gurion. The title and content of "Tick,tick,tick" post were excellent. It's very puzzling that such a critical issue seems to have such low priority.
near miss at BG airport we were aboard of the el al plane taking off on thursday. suddenly we saw a lufthansa plane very very close next to us. we asked the friendly stewardess what had happened. she promised to ask the pilot. she came back with the message from the pilot that the other plane had been close, but that this was absolutely within all security margins. i ended this conversation by saying it was very, very close and i doubted if this was according to the rules...... this means that the pilot fooled us by waving our worry. we are happy to tell you this, instead our lewaia could have taken place last frida rolfkitty - holland (12/21/2009
Hey Mark! While airports like Ben Gurion may have safety issues, its ONLY one airport. What about Texas leading the nation in truck accidents? Why is nothing done? What is the cause of the Texas political inertia? Must disasters happen before problems which have been obvious for years are addressed? Texas (the state) is larger than Ben Gurion airport, even MUCH larger than Israel. Are you writing in to Texas highway forums? Or are you just hanging out here with your comments? Thought so....
He who supposes that the Jews might screw up their ATC is an antisemite!
What exactly is the issue at BG Airport ? What are the root causes of these numerous incidents ? We need to have a serious investigation conducted by proper officials with recognised international accreditation, certification and experience. Without everyone starting a slanging match on here - can we have some factual discussion please ?
Once a jewel in our crown, but recently taken over by twits with attitude problems to cover up for a lack of genuine responsibility.
Ben Gurion remains a major disaster waiting to happen. Why is nothing done? What is the cause of political inertia? Must a disaster happen before the problems which have been obvious for years are addressed?
we were on the el al plane and saw the lufthansa plane very very close by. we told the pilot that this was absolutely not normal. he answered that the planes were close, but most certainly within safety margins.... as a laieman i can say that this was NOT within safety margins, it was less than 50 meters and a beautiful sight to close. so we postponed our lawaia.........