United Airlines flight 889 in mid air near miss with Aeronca 11AC over San Francisco

The US National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into how a commercial jet came within 300 feet of a mid-air collision with small airplane over San Francisco on Saturday.

United Airlines flight 889 took off from San Francisco International Airport about 11:15 am local time Saturday bound for Beijing with 251 passengers and a crew of 17 on board.

When the plane was at an elevation of about 1100 feet an air traffic controller at the airport alerted the pilots to traffic at their 1 o’clock position. Immediately following this advice, the airplane’s traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) issued an audible alert of “Traffic, Traffic”.

“The pilots saw a light high wing airplane, an Aeronca 11AC (N9270E), in a hard left turn traveling from their 1 o’clock to 3 o’clock position. The first officer pushed the control column forward to level the airplane. Both crew members reported seeing only the underside of the Aeronca as it passed to within an estimated 200-300 feet of the 777,” the NTSB said in a statement.

The pilots were advised by the plane’s systems to descend and did so. The flight continued to Beijing without further incident, the NTSB said.

Source: AAP