35 Injured as Jets Maneuver to Avert Collision Over Japan
Two Japan Airlines jetliners with nearly 700 people aboard narrowly avoided an in-flight collision Wednesday after at least one of the planes dived quickly to get out of the other’s path. Thirty-five people were injured, three seriously.
One pilot, Makoto Watanabe, filed a report saying the distance between the two planes was only about 35 feet, said Yoshihito Nakatsuji, an official at the Safety Inspection Division of the Ministry of Transportation.
All the injured were on Flight 907 from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to Naha, Okinawa. The Boeing 747-400, which was carrying 411 passengers and 16 crew members, returned to Haneda.
The other plane, a Japan Airlines DC-10 from Pusan, South Korea, carrying 237 passengers and 13 crew members, landed safely at Tokyo’s Narita airport, its destination.
Passengers on the 747 said the plane rocked back and forth, then dropped suddenly. Three passengers were in serious condition, according to Japan Airlines spokesman Takeshi Suzuki.
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