Florida: Delta Jet, Skydive Plane in Close Encounter Over Central Florida

The Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Aviation officials are trying to determine just how close a Delta Air Lines jet and a skydive plane got to one another over central Florida earlier this month.

Collision-avoidance alarms sounded aboard Delta Flight 1233 as the MD-88 jet approached Daytona Beach International Airport, said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Delta jet, flying in from Atlanta on Sept. 5 with 128 people aboard, was at 2,600 feet when a DH-6 Twin Otter from Skydive DeLand passed in front of the jetliner, Bergen said Thursday.

The incident happened about two miles east of the DeLand Airport, which is about 20 miles southwest of Daytona Beach.

The smaller plane had already released its skydivers and was spiraling down toward the DeLand Airport, Bergen said.

A collision warning device sounded in the Delta jet's cockpit, Bergen said. The jetliner climbed to a safer altitude, then resumed its approach and landed safely, she said.

Bergen said the collision warning device doesn't show how close the two planes might have been, and investigators are still trying to determine that distance.

Skydive DeLand officials said they couldn't recall a similar incident during the company's 18-year history.

The company averages about 14 flights a day, general manager Mike Johnston said. Bergen said the FAA investigates every close encounter

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-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), September 29, 2000