HONGKONG -- A Dragonair plane carrying 320 passengers and crew came close to a mid-air collision with another aircraft while approaching Beijing airport last week, it was reported yesterday.

The pilot of the Dragonair Airbus A-330 took evasive action when the aircraft's traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) signalled that it was on a collision course with a China International Airlines Boeing 737, the Chinese-language Apple Daily said.

The paper said the Boeing was about 334 m below the Hongkong-based Dragonair plane, and that if both aircraft had kept their courses, they would have collided within 15 seconds.

Dragonair confirmed yesterday that the TCAS alarm had activated on its plane as it approached Beijing Capital International Airport last Friday.

""The captain responded by taking appropriate action in line with operational procedure and the A-330 aircraft continued its approach to Beijing without incident.

""All passengers and crew disembarked as normal,'' the airline said.

It declined to comment further as the incident was under investigation, adding that a report had been submitted to Hongkong's civil aviation department.

In August, a Dragonair Airbus-321 on its way to Beijing also came close to a mid-air collision. --AFP

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/ea13_1025.html

-- DOris (reaper@pacifier.com), October 25, 2000