FAA investigating near miss between Alaska Airlines, SkyWest flights over Portland

Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near miss between two commercial jets at Portland International Airport.

Investigators are looking to see how close Alaska Airlines Flight 1299 came from SkyWest Airlines Flight 3978, after the former was unable to make a scheduled landing because of heavy wind.

"While attempting to land at Portland International Airport, the pilot of Alaska Airlines Flight 1299 initiated a go-around due to wind and turned towards SkyWest Airlines Flight 3978, which had just departed," the FAA said in a statement.

"An air traffic controller instructed the Alaska Airlines pilot to turn away from the SkyWest aircraft...The FAA will determine the closest proximity between the aircraft as part of the investigation."

The incident occurred on Oct. 16 at around 4:15 PDT. Weather reports at the time mention low visibility and heavy rain in addition to the challenging wind conditions.

The Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 was arriving from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. The smaller SkyWest Embraer 170 was on the way to Seattle.

After being forced to abandon the planned landing because of strong wind, the pilot of the Alaska Airlines flight then began climbing while the SkyWest plane began its takeoff roll on a parallel runway.

Publicly-available radar data shows the Alaska Airlines plane then turned into the path of the SkyWest flight.

Language used by the air traffic controller also suggests the Alaska pilot may have misinterpreted instructions meant for the SkyWest crew.

The SkyWest flight continued on to Seattle, landing as planned. The Alaska Airlines flight eventually diverted to and landed at Redmond Municipal Airport in Deschutes County, Ore.