The Nation - News from Aug. 10, 1987

A Pan Am jetliner and a TWA jumbo jet passed within 600 feet of each other as they approached different New York City airports, the Federal Aviation Administration reported. The FAA blamed the error on an air traffic controller who transposed the numbers of a flight, giving out instructions to Flight 834 when the number actually was Flight 843. The incident occurred about 12 miles southwest of La Guardia Airport at about 3,000 feet, the FAA said. The pilot of Pan Am Flight 537, a Boeing 727 shuttle from Boston to La Guardia with 88 passengers and crew members, saw the TWA Boeing 747 and descended on his own, she said. The TWA Flight 843 was headed for Kennedy International Airport.