777 Pilot Says 'We need to talk' After Close Call with C-182

April 1, 2010 — The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a near-collision last Saturday, March 27, involving a Cessna 182 (N9870E) and a United Airlines Boeing 777 (N216UA) near San Francisco International Airport. United Airlines flight 889 was passing through 1,100 feet when the crew was notified by air traffic control (ATC) of the location of the Cessna 182, followed immediately by an alert from the Boeing 777’s onboard traffic warning system. The flying pilot leveled the aircraft, and both crew members observed the underside of theCessna 182 as it passed 200 to 300 feet above them in a hard left turn.

Recordings of the incident, captured by LiveATC.net, show that the Cessna 182 was instructed to pass behind the Boeing 777, but events didn’t turn out that way as one of the United pilots can be heard saying to ATC after completing the avoidance maneuver, “We need to talk.”

 

 

 

Listen to the story