Runway procedure at JFK reviewed

WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration is studying whether to again change takeoff and landing procedures at John F. Kennedy International Airport after a second near-collision of aircraft in less than a week.

At a news conference yesterday, acting FAA administrator Robert Sturgell said a change ordered on Friday for the New York airport might not be permanent.

The FAA directed a change in the way takeoffs and landings are sequenced on perpendicular runways after two passenger airliners - one taking off, one landing - came within a half-mile of each other. Six days earlier, a similar incident occurred.

Sturgell said that a preliminary study found both incidents were due to communication problems with the pilots. He said that the incidents were not caused by understaffing or lack of experience of air traffic controllers.

The landing and takeoff procedures put in place Friday at JFK are designed to allow an aircraft taking off from one runway to get clear of the path of the other, intersecting runway before the second flight attempts to land. The procedure is normally used by the airport during the winter months.

On Friday, a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 was arriving at the airport when the pilot decided to abort his landing and execute a "go-around" - a routine procedure. That caused the Delta flight to intersect with the flight path of Comair Bombardier CRJ9 that was taking off on another runway.

On July 5, a Cayman Airways flight was landing at JFK when the pilot decided to abort the landing as a LAN Chile jet was taking off.