| Associated Press Wed 04-JUN-1986 19:38 Airliners Near-Miss
Iceland Air Control Suspends One Person in Near-Collision
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) - Icelandic Air Control said Wednesday one
person has been suspended from work in connection with the near
collision over Iceland of two planes carrying nearly 600 people.
Peter Einarsson, head of Icelandic Air Control said "a series of human
mistakes" was responsible for Monday's near disaster in which a British
Airways pilot reported that his 747 was only 50 feet above, and 200
feet to the side of a Scandinavian Airlines System DC-8. The passengers
aboard the two planes apparently unaware of the close call.
"The investigation is just starting but one person has been taken off
his post and will undergo a test of skill and a series of other tests.
But for the time being, he will not be sacked," Einarsson was quoted as
telling Morgunbladid, Iceland's largest newspaper.
Asked whether the air controllers on duty were at their posts at the
time of the near-collision, Einarsson said it was impossible to say
because the controllers have refused to keep records for several years.
"This is a series of mistakes of more than one person," he was quoted
as saying. But he refused to elaborate on the mistakes, saying that
would be part of the investigation.
SAS spokeswoman Monika Backlund said in Stockholm, Sweden that both
planes were flying in the same air corridor at the same altitude of
33,000 feet over southwestern Iceland on Monday. The captain of the SAS
plane, en route from Soendre Stromfjord in Greenland to Copenhagen,
Denmark, with 186 passengers and a crew of 12 on board, didn't notice
the oncoming jumbo jet until it swept past, Backlund said.
In London, British Airways spokesman Michael Blunt said the pilots
"spotted one another moderately late" and didn't have time to take
evasive action. He said the British Airways plane was under "positive
Icelandic air traffic control." The British Airways 747, with 375
passengers and a crew of 15, had been on a flight from London to
Seattle, Wash. It continued on to the United States.
Einarsson said up to 42,000 flights go through Icelandic Air Control's
area every year and near-collisions are very rare. "Some years none,
some years up to two or three," he was quoted as telling Morgunbladid.
Einarsson said this near miss is being investigated by the committee
that investigates air accidents. He said he has also asked the police
to be ready to step in if there is proof of any crime.
Blunt said the results of the investigation would be sent to British
and Danish authorities as well as the airlines involved.
Einarsson said his initial information indicated the planes were about
12 miles apart, but later information indicated the distance was only
four miles. Finally, he said Iceland Air Control received information
from the British Airways pilot that he was just 50 feet above the DC-8
and 200 feet to the side. "That is what he thinks and I don't doubt him
because no one has a better opportunity to estimate that than the
pilots themselves," he was quoted as telling Morgunbladid.
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