Year’s 7th Near Miss of Two Aircraft Occurs at LAX

Two aircraft came too close to each other for the seventh time this year at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday morning when a Cessna Caravan crossed a runway on the south side where an American Airlines Boeing 757 was preparing to take off.

The incident was the latest in a string of close calls between jets at the airport that started May 23. Since then, the airport has logged more runway violations than in all of 2004, a pattern officials said has a historical precedent.

“You typically go months and months without having one, and then you may have several in a two- or three-month time,” said Donn Walker, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

Thursday’s incident was typical of the other near misses that have occurred at LAX since May. Most took place on the facility’s south side, and involved an aircraft crossing or moving too close to a runway where an airplane was preparing for takeoff. Six episodes were attributed to pilot error and one to an air traffic controller’s mistake.

The Cessna pilot, who had taxied to the south airfield after landing on the airport’s north side, was told to stop short of the runway where American Flight 306 to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had been cleared for takeoff.

The pilot read back the instructions but continued across the runway, coming within 2,000 feet of the Boeing 757. The American pilot, who saw the Cessna cross in front of him, questioned his takeoff clearance. The controller checked to ensure that the Cessna was clear of the runway and told the American flight to proceed.

“There was very little chance of there being an accident or collision, but that doesn’t mean that this still isn’t serious, because any runway incursion is one too many,” Walker said.

The most serious recent event at LAX occurred June 19, when the pilot of a United Express jet bound for Santa Barbara had to abort his takeoff and slam on his brakes after a Continental Express jet moved too close to the runway. When the United Express jet came to a stop, there was just 100 feet between the aircraft.

Most of the incidents at LAX this year can be attributed to the fact that the airport has two sets of parallel runways, one pair on the north side and a second pair on the south. Airplanes that land on the outer runways must cross the inner runways, where jets take off, to reach the terminals.

Officials are concerned that, with seven near misses so far this year, the airport is undoing its progress over the last five years in curbing runway violations.

From 2000 to 2003, LAX led the nation in near misses between aircraft. In 2003, LAX posted 11 incidents. Five were recorded in 2004, three of them in the same month last summer.