Two Chinese passenger jets nearly collide at Shanghai Airport

Mistakes by air-traffic control caused a “near miss” between two Chinese passengers jets at a Shanghai airport this week, China’s civil-aviation authority said. In Tuesday’s incident, a China Eastern Airlines Airbus A320 was taking off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport when its crew spotted an Airbus 330 preparing to taxi across its path, according to the authority. The A320 captain decided to proceed with the takeoff, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC, which deemed the A330’s “runway incursion” as an “unsafe incident.” Local media reports said the A320 flew over the other plane; the CAAC didn’t provide further details on the takeoff in its statement beyond saying that the flight continued. The CAAC didn’t identify the A330’s operator, while local media reports said it was also a China Eastern aircraft. Initial findings by CAAC investigators showed that the near miss was caused by errors in air-traffic directions from the control tower, the authority said in a statement published Wednesday on its website.<br/>