2 Hurt as Jetliner Turns to Avoid Hitting Light Plane

An Air New Zealand Boeing 747 heading for Los Angeles International Airport with 386 people aboard was forced to swerve sharply to avoid a light plane less than 500 feet away, officials said Monday.

Two people aboard the jetliner suffered minor injuries in the incident, which occurred about 5:30 p.m. Sunday about 20 miles east of Santa Catalina Island, said National Transportation Safety Board regional director Gary Mucho, who is heading an investigation.

The jumbo jet landed without further difficulty at the airport 10 minutes later. Investigators had not found the small plane, a twin-engine Cessna, or its pilot.

The jet, on the last leg of a trip from Auckland, New Zealand, had left Tahiti Sunday morning and was approaching Los Angeles at 7,000 feet, about 26 miles southwest of Long Beach, when the incident occurred, Air New Zealand spokeswoman Heather Jeffrey said.

Air traffic controllers issued two warnings to the jetliner of “conflicting” air traffic in the area, Mucho said.

“The pilot took evasive action almost simultaneously with the second warning,” Mucho said.

The pilot of Air New Zealand Flight 6 swerved left and down to avoid the small plane, which was less than 500 feet in front of him, Mucho said.

The swerving motion caused two injuries among the 367 passengers and crew of 19 aboard the plane. A flight attendant bruised his arm and a passenger suffered a small cut, airline officials said.

Mucho said investigators were reviewing air traffic tapes to try to determine where the small plane may have gone after the close call.

An air traffic control specialist from Washington was flying to Los Angeles to aid in the investigation. Air New Zealand was also assisting the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB in their investigations.

Mucho said the incident occurred outside the restricted Terminal Control Area that surrounds the airport, meaning the light plane was probably not required to be under the guidance of air traffic controllers.