August 19, 2007
Close call at LAX
By AP

LOS ANGELES -- A packed WestJet airliner on a flight from Calgary was
involved in a near-miss Thursday with another jet on the tarmac at Los
Angeles International Airport, aviation officials said.

The close call happened at about 1 p.m. and appeared to have been the
result of mistakes made by both the arriving pilot and a ground
traffic controller, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration.

Officials said the WestJet Boeing 737, carrying 136 passengers, came
within 15 metres of colliding with a 150-seat Northwest Airlines
Airbus A320 that was taking off.

The Northwest jet was travelling about 240 km/h when the WestJet plane
approached its path. The WestJet plane managed to stop just in time to
avoid a crash.

No one was hurt, authorities said. An investigation was under way.

SWITCHED FREQUENCIES

Gregor said the arriving pilot switched radio frequencies too early
after landing and was unable to receive final directions from the air
traffic controller, the Los Angeles Times reported on its website.

When the WestJet pilot notified the ground traffic controller that the
plane was proceeding to its gate, the ground controller cleared him
without checking first with the air traffic controller.

Aircraft arriving at the Los Angeles airport must cross the inside
runway to reach their gate.

The "runway incursion" was the eighth such incident at LAX this year,
matching the total for all of 2006.

WestJet officials declined to comment on the specifics of the
incident. Airline spokeswoman Natalie Green would only say that the
airline was investigating.