A Near Collision at Shanghai Airport Under Investigation

Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport witnessed a heart-stopping moment on October 11 as two planes almost rammed into one another. At around 12 noon, an Airbus A320 belonging to China Eastern Airlines began to accelerate in preparation for take-off. However, the A320 suddenly came across an Airbus A330 on the runway. The pilot barely managed to evade the crash, heading off a probable disaster. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is now investigating the case. No one in either of the aircrafts was injured. China’s civil aviation authority is inspecting the incident as both the planes were owned by China Eastern Airlines. The aircraft’s captain was given permission to take off from the airport’s air traffic control centre, but quickly discovered that another A330 plane was crossing the same runway, according to South China Morning Post. An official mentioned that it remained unclear whether the aircraft or the control centre should be held accountable. The two aircrafts had not been close enough to each other so even if the A320 had not taken off and stayed on the runway, it was unlikely that the two aircrafts would have collided on land.