Boeing 737 GCPX

Summary

On 8 December 1998 at about 22:25 local time, a Boeing 737 registered GCPX was involved in an incident near New York, New York, United States. 52 people were on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 December 1998 at 22:25

Classification

Incident

Location

New York, New York, United States

Nearest airport

La Guardia Airport (LGA)

Coordinates

40.7494, -73.9990

Aircraft

Boeing 737

Registration

GCPX

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 129: Foreign

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Toronto → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

NYC99IA036

Nobody was injured.

The Cessna pilot's incorrect visual identification of the Boeing 737's altitude, and decision to take evasive action that was not required, which resulted in the two airplanes coming within 500 feet horizontally, and 0 feet vertically of one another.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Boeing 737 was on downwind for La Guardia's runway 4, at 4,000 feet msl, when the crew caught a glimpse of three lights. The lights were red, white, green, and aligned vertically with the red light on the bottom. The first officer saw the other airplane, and had enough time to realize they were not going to collide, but not enough time to execute an evasive maneuver. In addition, the airplane's traffic alert collision avoidance system went from 'TRAFFIC' to 'MONITOR VERTICAL SPEED' to 'CLEAR OF CONFLICT' in approximately 2 seconds. The other airplane was a Cessna 172, IFR, at 5,000 feet msl. The pilot of that airplane saw the Boeing 737 at his 12 O'clock position, and perceived it to be at the same altitude. To avoid a perceived collision, the Cessna pilot executed a descent, and at 4,000 feet msl, the two airplanes passed 0 feet vertically and 500 feet horizontally from one another.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.