FAA says planes were 82 feet apart
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The Federal Aviation Administration said a runway incursion put a taxiing jet about 82 feet from a departing airliner — less than half the separation required by aviation rules.
The incident Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport involved a Midwest Express Embraer 190 that landed and taxied toward a runway on which a Northwest Airlines Boeing 757 was taking off for Honolulu.
The Midwest Express jet, arriving from Milwaukee, landed on the airport's southernmost runway and was told to turn onto a taxiway and hold there.
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the jet was supposed to stop 200 feet from the edge of a parallel runway but continued on. An alarm was triggered when the jet crossed the hold line.
A controller saw what was happening and ordered the Midwest Express aircraft to stop. It halted about 70 feet from the edge of the runway.
Assuming the Northwest plane was in the center of the runway, the total distance between the Midwest Express jet's nose and the Northwest Airline's wingtip was about 82 feet.
