From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Jul 13 2009 - 08:10:48 EDT
Midair Collision Narrowly Averted
Reported: 08:45 AM - Jul/06/09
(IsraelNN.com) Eritrean air traffic controllers almost caused a midair
collision between an El Al plane with another plane over the Red Sea a month
ago. The El Al plane, en route to the Far East, avoided a collision when its
communications system warned pilots to change course. The Israeli plane was
only 700 feet away from the other aircraft, a two-second distance from
disaster.
Israeli flights en route to the Far East travel southward via the narrow Red
Sea corridor before turning east, since they cannot fly over most Arab
countries. El Al’s senior vice president of operations, Lior Yavor, told *
Haaretz*, “The junction of the Red Sea flight corridor and the African air
lanes is very problematic. El Al asked the Transportation Ministry to take
care of the issue through official channels to reduce chances of a
conflict.” Yavor added that the action has been taken by the Minister of
Transportation and the incident is being handled by the chief air accident
investigator, Yitzchak Raz.