El Al, Air France planes nearly collide over Serbia
Near collision on Monday was the result of an apparent air traffic control error in Belgrade.
By Zohar Blumenkrantz Tags: El Al Israel newsAn El Al airliner nearly collided with an Air France plane in the skies over Belgrade, Serbia, on Monday as a result of an apparent air traffic control error.
The El Al Boeing 777 carrying 120 passengers was en route from Tel Aviv to New York when the Air France jet flew closer to it, reaching a distance of 300 meters from one another.
An alert warning of possible collision sounded on the El Al plane, causing the captain to steer away from the Air France plane and avoid the crash.
"The pilot acted appropriately for this type of situation," said Lior Yavor, senior vice president of operations for El Al. "The passengers, crew or plane were never in any danger. El Al has built its reputation on the subject of security and will never compromise on that."
Less than two weeks ago, two airliners were involved in a near collision in Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel Airports Authority said.
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."
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How did you determine that this was air traffic controler error when an investigation has not been completed or was it? According to Serbian traffic control authorities French plane descended below approved 35,000 feet.
The Civil Aviation Directorate of the Republic of Serbia said in a statement in Belgrade on Wednesday that a transgression of separation norms occurred in Serbia's air space between French aircraft A318 AFR286J, on route from Paris to Sofia, and Israeli plane Boeing 777, ELY007, on route from Tel Aviv to New York. After going over the audio and video recordings of the event, the Directorate concluded that the French plane crew did not honor the instructions given by the air traffic control and was the sole cause of the breaking of separation norms between the two aircraft, the statement said. The crew of the French plane even correctly repeated the given instructions to bring the plane down to 35,000 feet (10,650 meters), but for unknown reasons the plane continued its descent even after reaching the approved height, said the Directorate. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=12&dd=30&nav_id=64134
Yes i hear that air france didnt listen to directions.. Serbian airport contacted the two airports, so why blame the air traffic controller when blame should be given to the one who did it,,, truth shall prevail..
Serb air traffic control say that the Air France jet didn't follow instructions and had descended below the approved altitude, almost causing and accident with the El Al jet. In any case, this should be investigated. Shouldn't be hard, all the tapes and telemetry are available.