Radar Data Backs DEA Denial of Near-Miss by Copter and Jet

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s denial that one of its helicopters came within 200 feet of a United Airlines jetliner over Los Angeles last week has been supported by preliminary radar data, federal investigators said Tuesday.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Mike Benson said the Federal Aviation Administration indicated that the DEA’s helicopter and the Boeing 727 jet never were closer than half a mile horizontally and 200 feet vertically.

The United Airlines pilot reported that he had just finished a turn and was approaching Los Angeles International Airport at 11:10 a.m. last Wednesday when he saw through his left window a helicopter headed north no more than 400 feet away.

According to airline spokesman Chuck Novak, the jetliner pilot reported that he applied power and climbed from an altitude of 2,100 feet to 2,400 feet, missing the helicopter by an estimated 200 feet.

Although an FAA spokesman initially said that both pilots were in contact with ground controllers at the time, Benson said the preliminary report indicated that the helicopter was not under actual radar control and was not within the Terminal Control Area.

Although an NTSB investigator at first said the incident apparently occurred over the Harbor Freeway about five miles east of the airport, Benson said the FAA preliminary report placed it over the Long Beach Freeway more than 11 miles east of the runway.

Novak reiterated Tuesday his observation that it frequently is difficult to estimate distances of aircraft in flight.