Free Republic

Some aviation experts argue the FAA’s focus on ‘diversity’ instead of ’merit' in hiring pilots and controllers is leading to serious safety concerns... As the U.S. Justice Department decides whether to pursue a criminal case against Boeing, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating dozens of airplane incidents since January, including one in which a Swiss Air jet almost collided with four other planes on the runway at JFK International Airport in New York City. The FAA has more than 100 aviation accidents and incidents since the beginning of 2024. These include airplane and helicopter crashes, equipment and mechanical malfunctions,...

Investigators Exclusive: Close call as planes nearly collide over WestchesterWESTCHESTER COUNTY (WABC) -- Eyewitness News has learned that two planes nearly collided in mid-air over Westchester County over the weekend, and now, two passengers are speaking out about the scare. It's an Investigators' exclusive. JetBlue Flight 94 had begun its descent to Westchester County Airport Sunday afternoon when its collision-warning system alerted inside the cockpit. An unidentified plane flying in busy commercial airspace was closing in on them. Shortly after, the controller told them to change course. At some point, that unidentified plane got close, much too close, to...

This is the terrifying moment two passenger jets came seconds from crashing into each other at Barcelona airport. The heart-stopping moment two passenger planes avoided a catastrophic collision was caught on camera on Saturday. Footage shows a Boeing 767 from the Russian airline UTair coming in to land on a runway at Barcelona's El Prat Airport. But with the plane just feet from touching down, an Aerolineas Argentineas Airbus A340 slowly taxis across the runway, forcing the still-airborne pilot to respond to the emergency by pulling back into the air. The quick-thinking pilot of the UTair jet landed the plane...

Russian, Delta Jets Nearly Collide Over Caribbean WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal authorities say two airliners were a minute away from colliding when they turned away from each other over the Caribbean this week. The National Transportation Safety Board says the Delta Air Lines flight and a Russian-registered passenger jet were heading toward each other north of Puerto Rico on Thursday when cockpit alarms went off. In a statement Friday, the NTSB says the pilot of the Russian plane -- a Transaero Boeing 737 -- descended 200 to 300 feet to avoid Delta Flight 485. The planes were 33,000 feet over...

Tapes show pilots calmly averted D/FW collision Airport worker failed to get OK to cross runway in November 01/01/2003 By HOLLY WARREN / The Dallas Morning News American Airlines pilots calmly averted a collision in November when a convoy of vehicles crossed a runway in front of a Boeing 777 preparing to take off at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, audiotapes released Tuesday show. "American 2421 heavy is aborting. You got trucks on the runway," the pilot told air traffic controllers. The runway incursion occurred Nov. 21 when an employee led four vehicles across a runway at the same time...

A Close Asteroid FlybyBy David Tytell Hurtling out of the “blind spot” between the Sun and crescent Moon , asteroid 2002 MN skimmed about 120,000 kilometers above the Earth’s surface during the early hours of Friday, June 14th. Nobody saw it until three days later, despite the fact that it penetrated to within 30 percent of the Earth-Moon distance. The trajectory is labeled at 0 hours Universal Time on successive dates.   S&T illustration: Steven Simpson     June 19, 2002 | On June 17th, astronomers from the Lincoln Laboratory Near Earth Asteroid Research project (LINEAR) discovered a new Earth-crossing...