Near miss at DIA

[jimmnn]

DENVER – The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an apparent near-miss on a runway at Denver International Airport on Friday.

At around 7:30 a.m., the NTSB says a Frontier Airlines flight from St. Louis broke out of low clouds as it was about to land.

The Frontier flight crew, on flight 297, saw a Key Lime Air charter plane, flight 4216, had inadvertently entered onto the runway, according to the NTSB.

The NTSB says the Key Lime Air plane may have made a runway incursion.

The NTSB says the Frontier flight immediately executed a missed approach and it is estimated the two planes came within 50 feet of each other.

The Federal Aviation Administration is helping with the investigation and says it is unclear what the exact distance between the two planes was and that it may not have been as close as 50 feet.

Both airlines declined to comment on the incident. They and federal investigators will not say how many passengers were on board.

No injuries were reported and the Frontier flight turned around and landed a short time later.

The Airport Movement Area Safety System alerted the control tower personnel at the same time the Frontier crew saw the other plane on the runway, according to the NTSB.

Weather at the time of the incident was one-half mile visibility, with a ceiling of 600 feet overcast with snow and mist.

The Frontier plane was an Airbus A-319 and the Key Lime Air plane was a Swearingen Metroliner. The Airbus seats 120 to 150 people and the Metroliner seats 19.

 

[Troop]

Kudos to the Frontier pilot for the split second GA......I'd never trust a airline named after a pie anyway

 

[Colin9690]

Kudos to the Frontier pilot for the split second GA......I'd never trust a airline named after a pie anyway

Yeah props to them. Unlike a piston engine aircraft, power changes in jet engines happen much slower and the engines take much more time to react to the throttles being pushed forward. Good job on the part of the flight crew to notice the hazard in time.

 

[RFsponge]

.22 seconds to disaster

A quick internet search informs me that the approach speeds for an A-319 in yesterday morning's conditions were probably around 130 knots, or 149.8 miles per hour, or about 220 feet per-second. It would take .22 seconds to travel 50 feet.

Yipe!

If these planes were really 50 feet apart, that's damn close...

Rob

 

[captaincraig44]

That's vertical feet, not horizontal. The A319 overflew the SW4 at 50-100 feet above it. Typical descent rates for an airliner on approach would be around 600-1000 ft/min, so a matter of a few seconds later and the Airbus would have been too low to avoid the other aircraft. Not a pretty picture.

 

[exkalibur]

It isn't a "near miss", it's a near hit. A crash is a near miss.. "Look, they nearly missed!"

 

[RFsponge]

From Channel 9's website:

"The pilot of the Key Lime Air plane, headed to Rifle, told investigators he had made a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong runway."

Oops.

 

[n0doz]

Those were 2 Key Lime A/C that collided over north Denver a couple years ago. They also had 2 Metroliners collide while taxiing at DIA, also a couple years ago. In the last one, one of the pilots appeared to be trying to "pass" the other on a taxiway. Didn't make it. If you've seen the small plane on the grounds of DFD's training area at DIA, that's one of them. (Don't remember if they have the second up there, too.)

 

[captaincraig44]

Those were 2 Key Lime A/C that collided over north Denver a couple years ago. They also had 2 Metroliners collide while taxiing at DIA, also a couple years ago. In the last one, one of the pilots appeared to be trying to "pass" the other on a taxiway. Didn't make it.

If you're referring to the mid-air that happened in Jan '03, those were not associated with the charter/cargo side of Key Lime. The charter/cargo side of the company has nothing to do with the aircraft rental side of the company, which the 172 involved in the mid-air belonged to. The rental aircraft are flown by private pilots, not Key Lime trained charter pilots. I don't believe that Key Lime Flights (the rental company) is in existence anymore. The other aircraft, a Cheyenne, was a privately owned aircraft.

There was an incident at DIA a little while back where one Key Lime aircraft did run into a company aircraft that had stopped behind other aircraft. It was dark and the pilot of the plane that hit the other wasn't trying to "pass" the other aircraft. They simply did not see the other aircraft stopped in front of them in time.

 

[N_Jay]

It isn't a "near miss", it's a near hit. A crash is a near miss.. "Look, they nearly missed!"

Thank you George (Carlin):twisted: :lol: :twisted:

 

[n0doz]

I did say "appeared to be." The damage made it look that way.

 

[RFsponge]

Apology

Script from KCNC-TV:

Tonight We Have A Better Idea What Of Caused A Near Miss At D-i-a. The Rocky Mountain News Reports Key Lime Air Is Taking Responsibility. Last Friday, A Charter Flight From Key Lime Ended Up On The Wrong Runway. A Frontier Flight That Was Landing Had To Ascend Quickly.. Coming Within 50 Feet Of The Charter Flight. Key Lime's Owner Is Apologizing... Saying "our Pilot Was Uncertain Of His Position Due To Poor Visibility." The Airport Did Have Blowing Snow That Morning. The N-t-s-b Is Investigating.