Delta Flight Crew Disciplined for Near-Collision

Delta Air Lines has taken undisclosed administrative action against the crew of a Delta jet that came within 100 feet of a Continental Airlines flight in one of several incidents involving Delta last month, a company spokesman said Saturday.

The Delta L10-11 was en route from London to Cincinnati with 164 passengers on July 8, when it strayed 60 miles off course near Newfoundland and nearly collided with the Continental jet.

The same Delta plane later entered the airspace of a British Airways Boeing 747, and the Delta crew reported problems with navigational equipment.

“In that instance over the Atlantic, the company has completed its investigation and has taken appropriate action,” Jim Lundy of Delta said, but he would not say just what action was taken.

“Basically, it’s an internal matter,” he said. “The administrative action that is taken normally is taken by the flight operations division of the company. . . . That’s something that’s internal to that division.”

He said the company began investigating the incident immediately after it occurred.

An Air Force crew flying in the area of the near-collision recorded conversation between the Delta and Continental flights that suggested that the Delta crew urged that the incident be hushed up. Aviation sources said that passengers on the Continental plane could read the numbers on the Delta jet.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday revoked the flight certificate of a Delta pilot who erroneously shut down the engines of his Boeing 767 over the Pacific Ocean on June 30 shortly after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport. The craft plunged toward the water before the engines were restarted.