This day in history: A near-disaster at Spokane International Airport prompted an FAA investigation

From 1976: Two passenger jets with 167 passengers nearly collided in an alarming incident at Spokane International Airport.

A Northwest Airlines DC10 was taking off when a smaller Hughes Airwest DC9 was “making an instrument approach” to one of the runways.

“Apparently the Airwest pilot said he saw the tail of the DC10,” said a National Transportation Safety Administration official . “So that’s pretty close. It was close enough for him to take evasive action, let’s put it that way.”

Nobody was injured and no damage was done, and both flights proceeded “on their own happy ways after this was over,” he said.

However, the Federal Aviation Administration was sending investigators to Spokane to compile a report about the incident.

From 1926: Spokane experienced a hard freeze – one of the coldest April nights in its history.

Some thermometers on the South Hill showed temperatures as low as 20.

“The temperature has been down to 22 in April before, but I don’t believe it ever stayed down for so long a period at this time of year,” the local federal meteorologist said.

The temperature dropped below freezing at 7 p.m. and stayed far below freezing all night.

Gardeners and orchardists were assessing the situation, but so far it appeared that there was comparatively little damage since “few early buds or blossoms were showing.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1917: President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany.