General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSpace Junk Barely Misses LAN Chile A340
The West Australian newspaper reports the pilot of the Airbus A340 flying from Santiago, Chile, got on the horn with controllers at Auckland Oceanic Center following the close encounter. The falling star -- what was left from a deorbited Russian satellite -- streaked across the sky approximately five nautical miles from the airliner.
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=3fb072d6-da24-4bbe-a60d-ce8b28a0876d
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Then the plane much more narrowly avoided collision with the ground during most of its flight.
hatrack
(59,587 posts)I'd go ahead and give it "near-miss' credit.
BTW, doesn't "near-hit" make more sense logically? I never quite figured that one out . . . .
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)If "near" is an adjective describing the type of miss.
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)Javaman
(62,530 posts)that translates to just over 9 miles a minute.
So something that is 5 miles away is less than a minute away.
I would be concerned.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)Which would make the "barely misses" a 50 second gap on an hour's long air flight seem a pretty close thing.
Living in a snowy climate over the years I've seen a handful of accidents occur about half minute in front of me on the interstate and have thought "I was just seconds away from being involved in that."
Seriously these people love excitement
GReedDiamond
(5,313 posts)SPACE JUNK