Residents: Airliner Flew Close to Condo(747 misses 41 story Condo by 30 feet!)

Herald tribune ^ | 1-5-02 | AP

[Rome2000]

Residents: Airliner Flew Close to Condo

The Associated Press

Residents of a high-rise told federal authorities a China Airlines jumbo jet flew dangerously close to the side of their 41-story building.

Ana Marie Vaisanen said she could see passengers inside the Boeing 747 as it swept past her 12th-floor condominium at Century Center Saturday morning.

"This roar became louder and louder and louder ... and I look out and there is a 747," Vaisanen said.

Some residents told television station KITV the plane came within 30 feet of the building and that one of its wings passed over the fourth-floor recreation deck.

Building resident Sylvia Thomas was walking her dog when she looked up and saw the jet.

"It went behind the building and came out the other side," she said.

Tweet Coleman, the Federal Aviation Administration's Pacific representative, would only confirm witnesses reported a China Airlines 747 was involved.

"We're doing an investigation on it, so I really don't have any specifics at this time," Coleman said Saturday night.

A call placed to the airline's office at Honolulu International Airport seeking comment went unanswered.

At 350 feet, Century Center, a mixed retail-office-residential condominium building, is one of the tallest structures in Hawaii.

Last modified: January 05. 2003 1:47AM

[timestax]

Whew!that was TOO close!! I hope Tweet Coleman really does somthing about it!

[eldoradude]

And you thought DWO was bad...

[Rome2000]

Ana Marie Vaisanen said she could see passengers inside the Boeing 747 as it swept past her 12th-floor condominium

Unbelieveable.

747 captains usually know where they are.

[Mo1]

WOW that must have scare the *&$@ out of a lot of folks

[capitan_refugio]

A near miss is as good as a mile.

[Paleo Conservative]

747 vs 41 story building. My question, would the building collapse immediately or would the occupants have time to anticipate it?

[Rome2000]

Hope it landed ok.

This is a China airlines jet.

There were 0 fatalities on American carriers in 2002

[lawgirl]

you know, I used to have an office that looked straight onto the St Louis Arch. A direct view--(great office)--less than a block away. The route to the airport in STL takes you past the arch, to the right of it as you pass. That way is away from my office. One day, I was working and looked up, and there was a plane banking and heading straight for the arch and, ergo, my office. It was enough to make me pay attention and sit up a little---it ended up pulling a hard left and going down the river--it didn't come too close to the arch or to my office, but to see an airliner coming directly your way as you sit in an office building is something to think about. It scared me a little bit. Any plane going into STL could veer off course and have been into my building in about 15 seconds. After that experience, I cannot imagine how these people must've felt. I'd have been scared to death.

[eldoradude]

China Airlines. If it had flown into either Kaneohe Bay NAS or Pearl Harbor, how long would those facilities have been shut down? Can you imagine the response if a civilian jetliner was shot down?

[ASOC]

China Air 747 took off from Anchorage using the TAXIWAY. Almost didn't make it. China Air said they would "take care of it themselves" There were tire marks on a snow berm at the end of the taxiway - which leads into Cook Inlet. Go in there and U R over with....
Wonder if they were too busy taking pictures?

[Rome2000]

I once flew Pakistani airlines from NYC to Frankfurt.

Big mistake.

I'm surprised the all male flight attendants didn't open the cabin doors at 35,000 ft.

Next time I'll spend the extra money and fly American.

[lewislynn]

A near miss is as good as a mile.

A "near miss" is a hit...A near hit is a miss.

[MJY1288]

The Pilot of the 747, (Won Dum Zhit) said he and his co-pilot (Sumting Wint Wong) were "unaware they were that close to Yankee imperialist building"

[MJY1288]

Ping

[JerryW]

Geez, Romeo2000, you must have been drunk off your buttocks when you bought that ticket and boarded that flight.

[Balata]

LOL! Maybe it's the reincarnation of Wong Way?

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

China Air is a Taiwanese airline, and they have a history of stupid accidents related to pilot screwups and faulty maintenance. You couldn't pay me to fly this outfit.

Korean Airlines is another one.

[Squantos]

TACA airline in South America is a fun ride too. TACA= Take A Chance Airline :o)

Stay Safe .....

[Rome2000]

I was in a band that was on tour(there were a lot of bands on that flight, come to think of it).

The big bands get to fly in Gulfstreams and the small time bands get Pakistani Airlines.