Planes Nearly Collide in Shanghai, Air Traffic Control To Blame

By Lauren Hogan

Air traffic control mistakes are to blame for a recent near-miss by two planes at Hongqiao airport on Tuesday.

A China Eastern flight heading toward Tianjin was forced to fly over a second China Eastern plane that had just landed and was taxiing across the runway.

The Tianjin-bound pilot didn't spot the arriving plane until he was already on the runway and had reached a speed of 200km. Upon consulting with air traffic control, the decision was made for him to continue take off, triggering maximum acceleration, and flying straight over the incoming flight.

Nothing like shaking things up a bit even before you hit turbulence.

After speaking and reviewing records from both the control tower and pilots, the incident, dubbed a 'runway invasion', has been pinned on air traffic control, according to the Civil Aviation Administration.

No one was harmed during the incident, save the air traffic controller's good standing with the company.

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