Nation in brief: Near-collision closer than thought
A near-collision between two planes on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport last week was closer than originally estimated: The two airliners were only 37 feet apart, aviation officials reported Wednesday.
A WestJet Boeing 737 that had arrived from Calgary, Canada, was crossing the runway about 1 p.m. Aug. 16 when it almost collided with a Northwest Airlines A320 that was speeding toward takeoff, said a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The WestJet pilot switched to a different radio frequency before being cleared by tower controllers to taxi across the Northwest plane’s runway. A ground controller then mistakenly instructed the pilot to proceed across the runway.
The WestJet plane traveled slowly toward the Northwest plane, which sped up to about 150 mph in preparation for takeoff, said Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Officials initially said the two planes were about 50 feet apart.
Aventura, Fla.
Girl 4, rescued from sunken car
Bystanders rescued a 4-year-old girl after her older brother started the family car and it rolled into a canal behind their apartment.
The girl’s mother, Tatiana Columbus, had been strapping the little girl into a car seat Tuesday when her 13-year-old son turned the ignition and the car lunged forward. Columbus and the boy were able to free themselves, but the girl was trapped inside.
The car was submerged by the time bystanders were able to break the back window and rescue the girl. She was treated for minor injuries.
Columbus was cited for leaving children unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle.
Knoxville, Tenn.
Electricity users asked to conserve
A fire at a power substation Wednesday forced the nation’s largest public utility to ask major industrial customers to reduce their electricity use as a heat wave continued to dog the region it serves.
The fire caused a partial shutdown at a Tennessee Valley Authority plant in Kentucky as temperatures were predicted to rise near 100 degrees through Friday in the Knoxville-based utility’s seven-state territory.
Meanwhile, the regional heat wave’s death toll grew Wednesday to at least 50, with one new death reported in Missouri and two in Alabama.
Kennebunkport, Maine
Heart attack kills ex-president’s guest
An 81-year-old houseguest suffered a fatal heart attack at the summer home of former President George H.W. Bush.
John C. Jansing, the husband of Bush’s cousin Shelley Bush Jansing, was taken by paramedics late Tuesday to the emergency room at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
“Jack was a wonderful man,” the former president said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and their three children. Barbara and I will miss him terribly.”