The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call between a United Flight and a Delta Flight in the skies near Sky Harbor on Saturday.
Delta Flight 1070 from Detroit, carrying 245 passengers, had just been cleared to land at Sky Harbor’s Runway 8 when a collision warning went off in the cockpit around 11 a.m.
At the same time, another automated warning went off on United Flight 1724 from San Francisco, carrying 123 passengers.
The planes got within 500 feet apart in vertical distance. Seconds later, they were within 1,200 feet apart horizontally, less than a quarter of a mile while these types of planes should be at least 5 miles apart horizontally.
An air traffic controller had cleared the United flight to land on Runway 7 right and then told the Delta flight to turn into position to land on Runway 8.
“We do have Runway 8 in sight. Clear” the pilot said. That’s when the collision warning went in the cockpit. “Descend, descend” is heard in the background. The pilots then changed the altitude, and everyone landed safely.
Delta says its flight crews “extensively train to handle uncommon scenarios such as this.” United said its pilots “acted immediately” after hearing the flight deck warning, and officials are working with the FAA on its investigation.
