FAA probes near-collision above New York airports

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Two airliners nearly collided above New York airports earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident, said on Friday.

The near-collision occurred at 3.45pm on June 13 when a Delta Air Lines Inc Boeing 747 arriving at John F.

International Airport's Runway 4L "lost the required amount of separation with a Shuttle America Embraer E170" taking off from LaGuardia Airport's Runway 13, the FAA said in a statement.

"The two aircraft were turning away from each other at the point where they lost the required separation," the statement said. "Both aircraft landed safely."

The planes were a half-mile (800m) apart horizontally and 200 feet (60m) vertically, the FAA said.

Shuttle America is a unit of Republic Airways Holdings Inc .

The agency said the Delta plane was cleared at the Kennedy runway, but the pilot decided not to complete the landing, which is a standard procedure known as a "missed approach."

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.