U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner was on a flight that narrowly missed a collision with another airplane near the Washington, D.C., airport last week. Now the Menomonee Falls Republican is personally conducting an investigation into air travel safety.
Sensenbrenner said he was on United Flight 612 on June 28 when the plane was diverted from its original flight plan due to a thunderstorm. Sensenbrenner’s office said that while his flight was holding at 13,000 feet, a breakdown in communication led to another air traffic control sector clearing a different aircraft to climb to 15,000 feet, setting that plane on a course to converge with his plane.
The pilots’ Traffic Collision Avoidance System alerted them to the impending collision, and Sensenbrenner’s plane made an evasive maneuver to avoid the second plane.
"Upon landing at Reagan National Airport, I immediately called the FAA to alert them of the situation and requested that they examine the conditions that led to this near collision over a heavily populated area," Sensenbrenner said. "While no one ever wants to be in such a circumstance, I am pleased that the FAA acted quickly to identify the error with air traffic control operations."
See the press release:
http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=202203.
– WisPolitics.com
