Qantas and Air NZ have near miss in RI

JAKARTA: A Qantas Airways jetliner and an Air New Zealand airplane had to maneuver to avoid a possible collision in Indonesian air space, the Australian newspaper reported on Sunday, citing the airlines and Australian authorities.

The aircraft, both Boeing Co. 767-300's carrying a total of 268 passengers and crew, took evasive action on May 22 after onboard computers alerted crews to the danger, the newspaper said.

The danger arose when Indonesian air traffic control cleared Qantas flight QF188 to climb to 37,000 feet from 35,000 feet, through the flight path of Air New Zealand flight 71 traveling in the opposite direction at 36,000 feet, the newspaper said.

The newspaper did not cite the Indonesian authorities.

At the time emergency maneuvers began, the planes were separated vertically by less than 125 meters and 800 meters horizontally, the newspaper said. The near miss during the day was in Indonesian-controlled airspace southwest of the island of Biak, off the coast of Irian Jaya, the newspaper said. --Bloomberg