(dpa) - The "active
and professional" work of an air traffic controller prevented what could
have been a major air disaster Sunday when a Russian and a US passenger jet
narrowly avoided a mid-air collison, Interfax reported.
The agency, citing officials at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, said the
near-collision involved Russian jet, a Boeing 737 with 57 persons on board and
a Boeing 767 with 231 passengers arriving from Atlanta, Georgia.
The initial blame was being put on the Russian jet, which had
just taken off for Rostov, with the pilots disobeying air controllers'
instructions, airport officials said.
"Thanks to the active and professional action taken by the air traffic
controller was a further escalation of the situation averted," the airport
said about the near-collision at an altitude of 2,000 metres.