2 Planes Touch in Midair Near Pacoima, FAA Says

Two single-engine planes grazed each other while flying north of Burbank Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday. Both landed safely and neither pilot was injured.

The incident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. last Friday, when a wheel on a Cessna 180 approaching Whiteman Airpark in Pacoima touched the left wingtip of a Beechcraft Bonanza, said FAA spokeswoman Kirsti Dunn. The pilot of the Beechcraft later reported that he had found a two-foot rubber scuff mark on the wing, apparently left by one of the Cessna’s tires.

The Beechcraft had taken off from Burbank Airport moments before the planes touched, according to Burbank Airport spokesman Victor Gill. The incident was reported to the FAA the next morning, but airport officials didn’t hear about it until Thursday.

Dunn said the agency will attempt to determine whether pilot error, an air traffic control error or mechanical problems were factors.

Air traffic control would be a factor only if one or both of the planes had been under the guidance of an air traffic controller. During normal visibility, pilots are responsible for watching out for, and avoiding, one another.

The near-crash comes only weeks after two light planes collided in midair about six miles north of Van Nuys Airport, killing four people. The cause of that crash has not been determined.