777 Death Dive over Atlantic

"JesusLives" wrote in message
. ..
A packed British Airways jet was just seconds from disaster after
plummeting out of the sky in a dramatic near miss over America, it has
emerged.

Enquirer version snipped..


BA said: "We have filed a report with the US Federal Aviation Authority
which is investigating."




From ANN:

Officials: BA Plane, King Air Had Close Call Near Tampa
Mon, 23 Oct '06

When Is A Near Miss, Not?
Everyone's OK after a British Airways 777 and a privately-flown Beech King
Air got a bit too close in the skies
around 50 miles north of Tampa, FL earlier this month. The planes did not
collide, and the BA pilot did not report
a near-miss to the FAA... but six people were injured when the big Boeing
suddenly descended 700 feet to avoid the
turboprop twin.

The Orlando Sentinel reports on October 10, the British Airways airliner
with 175 aboard had just taken off from
Tampa to London. As it was climbing to its assigned altitude of 26,000 feet,
the Traffic Collision Avoidance
System suddenly alerted when the aircraft was at 16,800 feet, said a British
Airways spokesman.

The TCAS directed the plane to descend, which the pilots did very quickly...
so much so that two passengers and
four crew members were sent to the ceiling.

An FAA spokesman said the King Air was still at least 1,400 feet higher than
the 777, and its pilot claimed that
he was aware of the location of the British Airways jet.

Despite the injures, the British Airways 777 did not officially report the
apparent near-miss and its sudden
descent, and continued on to England.

Several critics told the Associated Press this incident illustrates the
problem with the antiquated air traffic
control system in this country, but as yet, it is unclear if the near-miss
was actually a close-call, or one
pilot's overly enthusiastic cooperation with a TCAS alert.

In any case... since injuries were minor, and no official report was filed,
the FAA will not be investigating.