America ’s useless air traffic accountant screwed up again on Monday — except this “ mistake ” nearly led to Michelle Obama and her less - important colleague Jill Biden getting blown up in an plane clangour . Spoiler : They hold up .
The Washington Postreportsthat America ’s top two gal were return to Washington from an visual aspect on The View in New York City yesterday when their carpenter’s plane “ come dangerously skinny to a 200 - ton military cargo fountain and had to abort its landing at Andrews Air Force Base on Monday as the result of an air traffic controller ’s mistake . ” The Michelle ‘ n ’ Jill woodworking plane had to abort its landing in edict to create more aloofness between itself and the C-17 military plane . The Post explains :
They ordered the Obama plane to execute a series of S - release in an exertion to create a secure distance between it and the C-17 , federal functionary say . When those maneuvers failed to achieve the required distance between the two planes – and the Andrews controller realize the cargo jet-propelled plane would not have time to get off the runway before the presidential plane arrived – they aborted landing place of the Obama carpenter’s plane and order it to encircle the airdrome .
Because an airplane ’s wake causes life-threatening turbulence and , in utmost example , can cause a woodworking plane that enters it to go down , the FAA has strict standards on how much length controller should keep between planes .
A full loaded C17 can make such turbulence that the FAA need a 5 - mi separation behind it and the next aeroplane . The presidential fleet 737 already was far closer than that when the handoff took spot from the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control ( TRACON ) installation in Warrenton .
But hey suppose what ? No one got go down on up . And , as the Post compose , “ The go - around is seen by accountant as a fairly mundane safety subprogram that keeps planer out of greater worry . ” So credit the last air traffic controllers for their dextrous problem - puzzle out abilities .
[ WaPo ; range via Getty ]
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