Breaking: Two planes clip each other on runway at Newark NJ airport runway

31 OCT 06 | dcbryan1

[DCBryan1]

Fox news just broke in with an alert showing two planes on runway with emergency vehicles. Looks like disaster averted....developing.

[DCBryan1]

Is it me or are the close calls coming more frequently?

[dead]

Just yesterday at Newark, a jet landed on the narrow taxi strip rather than the runway. Luckily there was no other planes on the taxi strip, which is pretty rare for an airport as busy as Newark.

[PghBaldy]

Fox said no reports of injuries.
It's not just you.
I saw a Nova special about the biggest accident in history, on Tenerife (Canary Islands - 2 planes crashed into each other at airport 588 killed then). IIRC, they mentioned hundreds of incidents per year of near disaster at airports.

[dead]

AIRLINE PILOT IN BLUNDER LAND - TOUCHES DOWN ON NEWARK TAXIWAY

[TexasCajun]

I thought I heard earlier a plane landed on a taxi-strip and not the runway in Newark?

[gaijin]

Were the pilots Nigerian?

[cmsgop]

Thank God!

[MediaMole]

There are a lot of close calls out there.

A couple years ago, I watched in horror as a commuter plane taxied out on the runway as an MD-80 was coming in to land. The MD-80 aborted the landing and went around, but it was one of those moments where time seems to stop.

[straps]

What you spoke of was at Tennerefe Canary Islands It was a PanAm 747 and a KLM 747SP. They had to land there due to a terrorist attack at the regular stopover. This crash occured due to 1. Tower operator spoke little English.
2. Whole airport was shrouded in fog 10 months of the year. The PannAm a/c had landed and was told to cross the runway and taxi up the active runway to turn into the pax terminal and out of the clouds came KLM they touched down and realized what happened and tried to jump over PanAm they got as far as door 4 but they wacked the top of PanAm 747 just behind the upper deck bulge.

When we landed on a taxiway 2 days later to pick up the survivors they were sleeping in the hallways of the tiny hospital still wearing the clothes they had on during the crash. I know cause I personally was cutting there fuel impregnated clothes off in the C141 all the way to Mc Guire AFB then on to Kelly AFB Burn Center.

[COEXERJ145]

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

This was a REAL "near miss". They nearly missed each other but didn't. We can't call it a near hit because they didn't miss each other.

Collision = near miss, a hit.
Near Collision = near hit, a miss, not a near miss.

[CaptainK]

Newark is the worst airport I've ever flown into or out of.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Per the documentary, both planes had been on the ground for some time, having been diverted there after the bomb at their original destination airport. The crash was caused by the KLM pilot attempting to take off without clearance to do so. I believe the cockpit and tower dialogue in the documentary was taken directly from the planes' and tower's voice recorders. First officer knew they didn't haven't clearance and tried to tell the pilot, but not forcefully enough. First officer then simply announced to the tower that the KLM flight was taking off, but it was already too late.

[EGPWS]

RAAS is a pilots friend! ; )

[BluH2o]

The PannAm a/c had landed and was told to cross the runway and taxi up the active runway to turn into the pax terminal and out of the clouds came KLM they touched down and realized what happened and tried to jump over PanAm they got as far as door 4 but they wacked the top of PanAm 747 just behind the upper deck bulge.

Most of what you have stated is factual, except for the KLM flight landing when the incident occurred. Fact is, both aircraft had been diverted to Tennerife due to a bomb explosion at the airport in Las Palmas (nearby island). Both aircraft had been on the ground for a period of time before receiving permission to proceed to Las Palmas. The KLM flight was taking off as the Pan Am flight taxied toward it (as instructed by the tower) and was in the process of clearing the active runway when the KLM flight crashed into it. The KLM pilot (one of their most senior) apparently due to reduced visibility and a misunderstanding with the tower commenced his take-off role before the PanAm aircraft could clear the active runway.

[kylaka]

Newark is the worst airport I've ever flown into or out of.

Amen to that. So is Philly. I now go to Atlantic City / Pomona, and I'm in and out in ten minutes. No muss, no fuss.

[kylaka]

That's not quite the way the accident happened. Both planes diverted to Tennerefe and both were backtracking on the only runway preparing for takeoff, after the layover. The KLM plane got to the end, turned around and began their takeoff roll before the Pan Am plane cleared the runway. The Pan Am plane had begun their turnoff, and the KLM plane had just rotated when they hit. Another 10 seconds, and it would have been just a close call. The primary reason for the accident was miscommunication between KLM and the tower controllers, with poor visibility contributing.

[Hoodat]

Luckily there was no other planes on the taxi strip, which is pretty rare for an airport as busy as Newark.

Even more rare was an incident once where a plane actually took off on-time from Newark.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

That crash almmost finshed the 747 line due only to the high death toll. The best saving grace was it's safety record over the previous seven years of flying. Boeing and the airlines got ahead of the bad PR on that one and saved a great airliner.

[kylaka]

I do remember that. The public was appalled at the death toll. When the A380 was announced I remember thinking about it too.

Airbus has unwittingly made the next terrorist target, if they ever manage to put one together in saleable condition. If I was part of Airbus' management, I would have voted to shelve it, for that reason alone. Ford Motors survived Edsel, but I don't think Airbus will survive the A380. Not that I mind. I own a fair sized chunk of Boeing stock, and I'm not very supportive of state subsidized industries anyway.