Two commercial airliners nearly crashed during a storm shortly after one took off from Portland International Airport – and video of the dramatic near miss was captured on flight tracking video.
The YouTube channel VASaviation shows the exciting moment between an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 and a SkyWest plane that had just taken off from the runway in northwest Oregon at around 4:14 p.m. on Monday.
Shocking air traffic control audio shows the air traffic controller repeatedly asking the Alaska flight to change course to avoid a collision with the SkyWest plane. His voice becomes more and more panicked as the jets get closer.
The Alaska Airlines flight from Orange County, California, was traveling at more than 200 miles per hour when it aborted landing after the second plane took off from a parallel runway to the north.
They passed within 250 feet of each other – half the minimum distance of 500 feet that the FAA defines as a “near mid-air collision.”
Shortly after the potentially near-fatal experience, the Alaska plane deviated from the SkyWest climb at the direction of an air traffic controller. The incident is the subject of an FAA investigation.
On Monday around 4:15 p.m., a harrowing near miss occurred between an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 and a SkyWest plane that had just taken off from the runway in northwest Oregon.
The Alaska Airlines flight from Orange County, California, aborted its landing after the second plane took off from a parallel runway to the north. (Pictured: an Alaska Airlines passenger flight in 2021)
Alaska Airlines confirmed the incident to local news outlets on Friday, saying it was investigating the incident – and that its priority was the safety of passengers and employees.
“The crew of Flight 1299 followed cockpit instructions and immediately responded to increase the distance from the other aircraft,” a spokesperson told Oregon Live.
“The aircraft maintained a safe lateral clearance throughout the event.”
“At no time was the safety of the flight compromised,” SkyWest said in a separate statement to the newspaper on Friday.
It is unclear how many people were on each plane.
The incident occurred amid “tornatic activity” in Oregon, according to forecasts at the time, with a severe weather warning looming over much of the state.
A FlightAware tracker shows Alaska Airlines Flight 1299 departed Santa Ana’s John Wayne Airport at 2 p.m. on Monday.
After a close contact with the ascending aircraft, it was diverted to Roberts Field in Redmond, Oregon, landing 26 minutes late.
SkyWest aircraft 3978 departed Portland International three minutes early and arrived in Seattle on time and as scheduled.
The Alaska plane was cruising at 214 miles per hour, and the SkyWest plane had reached speeds of 190 miles per hour, according to Oregon Live. The FAA is investigating the incident.
A FlightAware tracker shows Alaska Airlines Flight 1299 departed Santa Ana’s John Wayne Airport at 2 p.m. on Monday. After a close contact with the ascending aircraft, it was diverted to Roberts Field in Redmond, Oregon, landing 26 minutes late
SkyWest 3978 left Portland International three minutes early and arrived in Seattle on time. The Alaska plane was cruising at 214 miles per hour, and the SkyWest plane had reached speeds of 190 miles per hour, according to Oregon Live
“While attempting to land at Portland International Airport, the pilot of Alaska Airlines Flight 1299 initiated a go-around due to wind and turned toward SkyWest Airlines Flight 3978, which had just departed,” it said in a statement the FAA.
“An air traffic controller instructed the Alaska Airlines pilot to turn away from the SkyWest aircraft.” The incident occurred on Monday, October 16, at approximately 4:15 p.m. local time.
“The FAA will determine the closest proximity between the aircraft as part of the investigation.”
The incident follows a New York Times investigation that found such near misses happen “far more often” than you might think.
There have been at least 46 incidents involving commercial airlines in the U.S. as of July, according to the newspaper.
Shortages between commercial airlines have occurred an average of several times a week this year, according to a Times analysis of internal FAA records.
Industrial workers blame the shortage of air traffic controllers, which forces many in the profession to work mandatory overtime. The demands of the job have caused some to burn out and even use alcohol and sleeping pills to relieve stress.
A shocking 99 percent of air traffic control facilities in the United States are understaffed, according to the New York Times. 310 of 313 facilities do not have enough workers.
Some of them, including the regional facility in New York and a high-rise in Philadelphia, are operating at about 60 percent of staff or less.
While fatal incidents involving small private aircraft can occur several times a year, the last fatal U.S. airline crash occurred in 2009, when Colgan Air Flight 3407 from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, New York, crashed into a House collapsed in Clarence Center, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground.