This is the moment two passenger planes came perilously close to colliding in midair with 400 people on board as they prepared to land at the Phoenix airport.
United Airlines Flight 1724 and Delta Air Lines Flight 1070 had been cleared to land on parallel runways when came came incredibly close to each other as they began their descents into the airport on Saturday morning.
The planes experienced ‘a loss of required separation’ when they were heading toward the airport, with flight tracking data revealing that at one point they were just 425 feet apart in vertical distance.
Seconds later, they were within 1,200 feet apart horizontally, which is less than a quarter of a mile, FlightRadar data shows.
Both flight crews received alerts that the other jet was nearby and were given ‘corrective instructions’ from air traffic control.
Air traffic control instructed the United flight to land on Runway 7, while the Delta flight was told to shift course and land on Runway 8.
‘Descend. Descend,’ a robotic voice told the Delta crew, an audio recording obtained by CBS News has revealed.
Both planes landed safely and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into the incident.
This is the moment United Airlines Flight 1724 and Delta Air Lines Flight 1070 came perilously close to colliding in midair with 400 people on board as they prepared to land at the Phoenix airport
The planes experienced ‘a loss of required separation’ when they were heading toward the airport, with flight tracking data revealing that at one point they were just 425 feet apart in vertical distance
The near collision occurred around 11am on Saturday after both jets had been cleared for landing.
The United flight, inbound from San Francisco and carrying 123 passengers, was descending toward the airport above the Delta plane as it headed for the runway.
The Delta flight, inbound from Detroit with 245 passengers on board, was travelling at a speed of 275mph as the United plane approached.
Pilots received an ‘automated flight deck warning’ instructing them to change altitude and ‘acted immediately’, a spokesperson told the Independent.
The United plane began to climb and shifted altitude before resequencing for landing, FlightAware data shows.
A Delta spokesperson told the newspaper: ‘As nothing is more important than safety, Delta flight crews extensively train to handle uncommon scenarios such as this and followed the resolution advisory as directed.’
Justin Giddens, a self-described “aviation nerd’ who captured footage of the incident, described the descent as ‘immediate panic mode’.
‘I know the way the planes are supposed to be in the pattern on approach to Sky Harbor,’ he told KPHO.
‘It just makes you think – oh man, they really avoided a major disaster.’
DailyMail.com has approached Delta, United and the FAA for comment.
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