BDL SLF
12th Sep 2002, 14:46
I thought you guys might be interested in this...
Report: hijacked plane nearly hit flight from Hartford
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The second jet to crash into the World Trade Center last year nearly collided in midair with a flight that had taken off from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, air traffic controllers told Dateline NBC in interviews broadcast Wednesday night.
United Flight 175 flew within about 200 feet of Delta Flight 2315, bound from Bradley to Tampa, Fla., as a controller frantically tried to tell the Delta pilot to take evasive action, said air traffic controllers Curt Applegate and Dave Bottiglia of the New York En Route Center in Islip, N.Y.
Applegate said he listened in disbelief as the controller next to him tried to prevent a crash.
"God, I heard stuff from him (the other controller) I didn't think I'd ever hear in my career, ever," Applegate told Dateline.
Applegate said he heard the other controller say, "Traffic 2 o'clock. Ten miles. I think he's been hijacked. I don't know his intentions. Take any evasive action necessary."
"That's something you hear in the movies, not on the job," Applegate said.
Bottiglia added, "It was a terrifying moment just to watch the two airplanes miss by less than I think it was 200 feet."
Air traffic controllers had lost contact with the pilot of United 175, which was carrying 60 passengers and crew, before the near-collission.
The near-miss happened in the skies above the New York City-New Jersey area as United 175 was turning back toward Manhattan.
NBC reported Wednesday that the story of the near-collission had recently surfaced.
A Delta spokeswoman late Wednesday did not have information about the midair incident or Delta Flight 2315.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2002/2002-09-12-hijack-nearmiss.htm
Report: hijacked plane nearly hit flight from Hartford
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The second jet to crash into the World Trade Center last year nearly collided in midair with a flight that had taken off from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, air traffic controllers told Dateline NBC in interviews broadcast Wednesday night.
United Flight 175 flew within about 200 feet of Delta Flight 2315, bound from Bradley to Tampa, Fla., as a controller frantically tried to tell the Delta pilot to take evasive action, said air traffic controllers Curt Applegate and Dave Bottiglia of the New York En Route Center in Islip, N.Y.
Applegate said he listened in disbelief as the controller next to him tried to prevent a crash.
"God, I heard stuff from him (the other controller) I didn't think I'd ever hear in my career, ever," Applegate told Dateline.
Applegate said he heard the other controller say, "Traffic 2 o'clock. Ten miles. I think he's been hijacked. I don't know his intentions. Take any evasive action necessary."
"That's something you hear in the movies, not on the job," Applegate said.
Bottiglia added, "It was a terrifying moment just to watch the two airplanes miss by less than I think it was 200 feet."
Air traffic controllers had lost contact with the pilot of United 175, which was carrying 60 passengers and crew, before the near-collission.
The near-miss happened in the skies above the New York City-New Jersey area as United 175 was turning back toward Manhattan.
NBC reported Wednesday that the story of the near-collission had recently surfaced.
A Delta spokeswoman late Wednesday did not have information about the midair incident or Delta Flight 2315.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2002/2002-09-12-hijack-nearmiss.htm