Confusion after Vice President Biden landed in Chicago on Monday almost resulted in a collision between two passenger planes just above the tarmac at O’Hare International Airport, according to federal officials and air traffic recordings. The near-collision involved a pair of 50-seat, twin-engine commuter jets, one inbound from Muskegon, Mich., and the other taking off for Buffalo. Biden’s plane was not involved in the incident. The other planes came within 300 feet of colliding, a crash that was averted as an angry pilot and a surprised air traffic controller expressed their dismay with expletives.
A controller supervisor stepped in, ordering that the inbound plane, a SkyWest Airlines Canadair jet with 29 people aboard, abort its landing to avoid an ExpressJet Airlines Embraer ERJ-145, with 53 aboard, that was rolling down a runway toward takeoff.
“Oh, [expletive],” said the controller who had ordered theExpressJet to take off, according to a recording of the tower traffic.
“What the [expletive] was that?” the ExpressJet’s pilot shouted as he saw the SkyWest plane. “What was that?”
“Sorry,” replied the controller, who had been certified for the job in the O’Hare tower just two weeks earlier, federal officials said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Sasha J. Johnson said the FAA “will review the event to see if anyadditional training or procedural changes might be necessary.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that it was investigating. Read More
