Investigation Ordered After Near-Miss between Two Cargo Planes at Hong Kong Airport

A near-miss between two cargo planes at Hong Kong International Airport on Thursday led to an investigation. The close encounter occurred at about 7 am when two planes, one bound for Turkmenistan and the other for Baku, took off from neighboring runways.

The air traffic control had instructed the airplanes to maintain vertical separation, but they were unable to because they had varying climbing rates. The Boeing 777 was one of the planes that had reported a collision warning after reaching an altitude of approximately seven miles northeast of the airport and later descending to a lower altitude.

The incident is being investigated by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and had removed from front-line duty the air traffic controllers involved. According to initial accounts, the probable cause of the accident was said to be deviation by air traffic controllers from procedures.

The aircraft were equipped with a collision avoidance system, experts believe, and it certainly seems to have worked, preventing a crash. The incident is the latest addition to growing industry anxiety in light of other recent close calls.