U.S. aviation officials say a plane carrying first lady Michelle Obama had to abort a landing Monday evening after getting too close to a military cargo jet.The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday that a Boeing 737 carrying Mrs. Obama was within five kilometers of a massive C-17 cargo plane as it was preparing to land at Andrews Air Force base near Washington.Mrs. Obama’s pilot was told first to conduct a series of broad turns to create distance between the two aircraft. When that failed, air traffic controllers told him to “go around” to give the military jet enough time to clear the runway.An FAA press release says Mrs. Obama’s plane was “never in any danger.” The plane landed safely.
The aviation agency is investigating the incident as a possible error by traffic controllers at a regional radar facility near Washington. The federal agency has been under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks as information surfaced that some controllers have fallen asleep on the job.FAA standards require a minimum of eight kilometers between planes to avoid dangerous turbulence generated by a plane’s wake.Aviation experts says this type of incident occurs often.The first lady was returning from New York, where she appeared on the daytime talk showThe View and at other events. Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill, also was on board the aircraft. – Voanews
