Planes were just 300ft apart in Boston airport near miss, expert says
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/21/boston-airport-planes-jets-close-callOpen linkView original on lemmy.ziphttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/21/boston-airport-planes-jets-close-callOpen linkView original on lemmy.zip
I always have to go back and think about the George Carlin bit with him talking about the terminology of "near miss". They really should be called near hits!
For context, this is about the length of an airliner. So this was actually extremely close.
Also, I flew back into Logan yesterday, on a delta flight, though I did not discern any abrupt maneuvers or a go-around on landing 😅
Not to sound terminally USian, but 300 ft is 100 yards, which is 1 football field.
I don't think commercial jets are the length of a football field.
Maybe like ½ - ⅔ of one at most.
Ah, you’re right - I guess I was thinking more along the lines of larger airliners. Still, this is in the realm of “uncomfortably close”.
About 20 years ago I was flying from South Spain back to the UK, a 2 hour flight. Bored and looking out the window I see something in the distance reflecting the sun. Within seconds we passed it. It happened very fast.
Given the shape and that it had some colour on the side which I couldn't make out because it happened so fast, I can only assume it was another plane.
It was only hours later that my brain decided how close that was and how nobody said anything about it. I assume the captin must have noticed!