'Near miss' denied

Press, 9 April 1977, Page 3

'Near miss' denied

PA Auckland A Civil Aviation Division inquiry into -an incident involving two Boeing 737 jets (over New Plymouth has blamed it on an error by air traffic controllers. The two N.A.C. jets, flying 'from Auckland to Christchurch and from Christ.church to Auckland, passed 'closer than ihe 2000 ft height separation allowed them. The Controller of Air Traffic Services (Mr A. H. Milestone) has described ii as a "momentary loss of separation.” The controllers had taken immediate action to restore the separation, he said. One source had asserted ) there was "little more than .; 100 ft separating the aircraft when they passed.” “I want to deny that absolutely,” said Mr Milestone. “That is completely off I beam, a gross exaggeration. A near miss certainly did not occur.” The incident happened on | December 9. The subsequent I inquiry was held in Auckland. Mr Milestone declined to explain how< the error happened. but it is believed that ’ one aircraft was climbing to 1 its cruising height of 33,000 ft, and had passed .through its alloted height ..when the error was dis- ’ covered. It is believed that the two [; controllers were reprimanded.