A passenger on board an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Lisbon got quite the fright when, staring blankly out the window, he saw an oncoming passenger jet bearing right down on him, 35,000 feet in the air.
“What constitutes a near miss?” passenger-cum-videographer William Cherry nonchalantly asked after safely landing.
What constitutes ‘a near miss’? This happened on my flight from Dublin to Lisbon yesterday!! Hasn’t helped my fear of flying! ?✈️ pic.twitter.com/PQ8sZyyD3B
— William Cherry (@snappercherry) February 28, 2019
Cherry claims that none of his fellow passengers noticed the oncoming jet, which thankfully veered off safely, avoiding any unnecessary panic in the process.
While it’s unclear from the video just how close the other jet came, below 29,000ft planes are ordered to maintain three horizontal miles or 1,000 vertical feet apart to avoid any disasters.
Hi William, that's pretty normal! Above 29,000ft (which it looks like you probably are) minimum vertical separation as enforced by NATS is 1000ft and 2000ft below 29,000ft more info can be found here https://t.co/yJabdX2Wgb
— John Smith (@grumpyoldgit_) February 28, 2019
I would be more concerned about the gremlin on the wing. Twilight Zone style.
— Rodney (@memike72) March 1, 2019
— John Gillespie (@JohnGillespieJG) February 28, 2019
At the height the Aer Lingus jet was flying at, the separation distance is supposed to be at least five miles.
