El Al, Air France Jets Avoid Collision Over Serbia

Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- An El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. passenger plane nearly collided with an Air France airliner over Serbia two days ago because of an air traffic control error, El Al said.

El Al flight 007 to New York, a Boeing 777 airliner with 120 passengers, descended from its cruising altitude above Belgrade to establish a safe distance from an Air France plane that was carrying out the faulty instructions of an air controller, El Al said in a statement. The incident was on Dec. 28, it said.

The planes passed as close as 300 meters before the El Al pilot steered away, Haaretz reported on its Web site.

“The pilot acted accordingly to the situation,” Lior Yavor, senior vice-president of operations for El Al, said in the statement. “At no point was there danger to the passengers, the crew or the plane.”

Katarina Andric Milosavljevic, a spokeswoman for Serbia’s Civil Aviation Directorate, said an investigation is under way to determine if air traffic controllers were at fault.

Air France declined to comment, referring questions to Serbian authorities.

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