SHANGHAI - Two China Eastern Airlines planes were involved in a near-collision on a runway at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport on Tuesday (Oct 11).

According to the South China Morning Post, the incident occurred at around 11.54am as Flight MU5643, an Airbus A320, was preparing to take off after getting permission from the airport's air traffic control centre.

The aircraft's captain, however, discovered that a taxiing plane, an Airbus 330, was using the same runway and would cut across his path.

But he still decided to go ahead - and narrowly averted disaster when MU5643 barely cleared the other plane as it lifted off.

There were no injuries reported.

Quoting an unnamed official from the East China branch of Civil Aviation Administration, news portal Eastday.com reported that the agency was investigating the incident.

It was not immediately clear who should be held accountable for the lapse in judgment, the official said.

In January this year, two planes from the same airline were involved in a slight collision at the Shanghai airport.

Both aircraft clipped each other's wings as one was making its way to a gate from the runway after landing.