# It's a big sky out there **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-big-sky-out-there/388959 "2007-01-22T15:40:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-big-sky-out-there/388959/1 "2007-01-22T15:40:23Z")
Has there been a case of a mid-air collision or a near-miss outside of the terminal approach areas, just in the middle of airspace nowhere? Seems like all such cases I’ve heard about were near airports during approach or takeoff. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-big-sky-out-there/388959/2 "2007-01-22T16:01:22Z")
Yes, I recall this one, over the Grand Canyon, but I’m sure there have been others. [http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/twa\_united\_airlines\_grand\_canyon.htm](http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/twa_united_airlines_grand_canyon.htm) They are probably more common to military aircraft as they frequently fly in formation and/or are involved in high speed maneuvers in close proximity. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-big-sky-out-there/388959/3 "2007-01-22T16:16:50Z")
There was the collision between a DHL cargo plane and a Russian passenger jet over southern Germany a few years back. Swiss air traffic control got the blame, and the poor guy who was on duty was later murdered by the father of some of the schoolchildren who died in the accident. The controller’s instructions to the two planes had contradicted those given by the on-board collision avoidance systems. > **[2002 Überlingen mid-air collision](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashkirian_Airlines_Flight_2937)** > > On the night of Monday, 1 July 2002, BAL Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet, and DHL International Aviation ME Flight 611, a Boeing 757 cargo jet, collided in midair over Überlingen, a southern German town on Lake Constance, near the Swiss border. All of the passengers and crew aboard both planes were killed, resulting in a total death toll of 71. > The official investigation by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (German: Bundesstelle für F... ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-big-sky-out-there/388959/4 "2007-01-22T17:54:05Z")
On 13 September 1997 a USAF C-141 B and a German Air Force TU-154 collided over the Atlantic, off Namibia (33 fatalities). Reports said the flight plan for the German plane stated a wrong altitude to use. Berlin ground staff were blamed for preparing the wrong plan, and ATC in Luanda, Angola for not noticing both planes using the same flight level. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-big-sky-out-there/388959/5 "2007-01-22T19:13:51Z")
Most recently, there was the September 2006 [air crash](http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/01/22/brazil.crash.ap/index.html) between a Boeing 737 airliner and an Embraer executive jet, which took place [in the middle of nowhere](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gol_Transportes_A%C3%A9reos_Flight_1907#Collision) over the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.