707 Cargo Jet Nearly Hits Miami High-Rises

A Boeing 707 cargo jet with a mechanical problem appeared as if it was going to crash into downtown Miami buildings before the pilot regained control and flew on safely, witnesses and the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday.

“We are on the 46th floor, and we were looking down on the plane,” said Sandra Andrade, who works in the 54-story First Union Financial building, about a block from Biscayne Bay.

The four-engine jet, which took off from Miami International Airport on Thursday, continued on to Gander, Newfoundland, where it was being inspected Friday, said Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman in Atlanta.

The crew told the Miami control tower after the emergency was over and the plane was well on its way to Newfoundland that there had been a problem with the “yaw damper,” a part of the control system that keeps the plane stable, Bergen said.

A yaw means the plane skews back and forth and is unable to maintain a course.

The plane was over Biscayne Bay, about 300 feet offshore, when the office workers first spotted it.

It was heading southeast, toward the downtown buildings, Andrade said.

“An attorney in our office was looking out the window of his office and yelled, ‘Oh my God! A plane is going to crash!’ ” she said.

“We all ran in and saw it wobbling. The wing on one side would dip down as if it was going to turn and then it would dip down on the other side. It kept doing that.

“We all thought it was going to crash into downtown. It was pretty scary.”

She said the plane was below the top of the 34-story Intercontinental Hotel.

“It went out of view from our window. We all ran across the hall to another office and saw it again. It was gaining altitude and finally disappeared into the clouds. My heart was pounding,” Andrade said.

The FAA quoted Canadian authorities as saying that papers on the plane showed that it was registered in Liberia, owned by Alan Beni and operated by Jet Aviation Components.

Beni was out of town and not available for comment, his office in Miami said.