Canoe

Thursday, July 13, 2000

Air Canada: Close-Call

TORONTO (CP) -- Passengers were not in danger when an Air Canada flight pulled up to avoid a Boeing 747 jumbo jet on the same runway at Pearson Airport, officials said Thursday.

Contrary to a media report, the planes were travelling in the same direction Wednesday night when the captain who was landing Air Canada flight 835 from Boston aborted the attempt and pulled the aircraft back up, said Jim Harris, spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board.

"They were completely within the standard," Harris said Thursday.

A 747 jet, which officials still could not identify Thursday afternoon, was about three-quarters of the way down the runway from the Airbus A320, and was approaching take-off speed, about to put its nose in the air.

The Airbus, which was carrying 79 people, jerked upwards and circled before completing the landing on the second turn 15 minutes later.

Harris said reports that the planes were face-to-face were "overblown."

"In the real world, we wouldn't have even been called in on this," he said. "It didn't happen (like that)."

Meanwhile, the agency in charge of Canadian flight navigation said it reviewed the incident and found it was not a near-miss and that passengers were safe at all times.

"Both aircraft were heading in the same direction. The departing aircraft was airborne before the arriving aircraft crossed the beginning of the landing runway," NAV Canada said in a statement, noting the aircraft were about 21/2 kilometres apart.

"The timing between the two aircraft was appropriate and correct procedures were used at all times."

Irene Hawrylyshyn, manager of community relations at the airport, confirmed that the distance between the planes met industry standards, but was likely too close for the pilot's comfort.

"Contrary to some reports, the aircraft were not going face-to-face," said Hawrylyshyn. "The pilot (of the landing plane) must have felt it was too close."

Air Canada spokeswoman Laura Cooke said the pilot made "a judgment call" to pull up and retry the landing.

"We were prepared to land and they were preparing to do so," Cooke said.

"Seeing the aircraft on the runway, it was a clear night ... the captain elected to do a go-around, as we always do in these instances."

She said the flight never in any real danger, and that there was still an appropriate amount of room for both planes to take off and land.

The wind on Wednesday night was very light at Pearson, blowing from the southeast, at about seven kilometres an hour.

Pearson sees flights leaving every five minutes during the summer months.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), July 13, 2000