Airliners nearly collide over Atlantic

WASHINGTON – Two airliners were one minute from colliding when at least one of the planes turned away from the other over the Atlantic Ocean this week, federal authorities said Friday.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating an incident in which a Delta Air Lines flight and a Russian-registered passenger jet were heading toward each other Thursday north of Puerto Rico when cockpit alarms went off.

The NTSB said the pilot of the Russian plane – a Transaero Boeing 747 – descended 200 feet to 300 feet to avoid Delta Flight 485.

The planes were at the same altitude – 33,000 feet over open ocean – and were “60 seconds apart from occupying the same airspace,” said NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson.

Knudson said the agency doesn’t have enough information yet to know if the planes would have collided had evasive maneuvers not been taken, or if they would have narrowly missed each other.