NYC airport collision shows risks of huge planes - The Seattle Times

NEW YORK — A frightening collision between one of the world's largest airliners and a commuter jet on a dark, wet tarmac at Kennedy Airport underscores worries about ground accidents as U.S. airports begin handling a new generation of giant planes.

A total 586 passengers and crew members were aboard the two aircraft Monday night when the left wing of an Air France Airbus A380 clipped a Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet flown by Comair, spinning the smaller plane nearly 90 degrees. No one was injured.

The superjumbo Airbus is so immense — as tall as a seven-story building, with a wing span as wide as a Manhattan block — that its wing almost cleared the smaller plane.

"It's the sheer size of these aircraft and the congestion at these airports that's the problem," said Allan Tamm, a consultant with Portland-based Avicor Aviation. "It's a serious concern for all these airports trying to accommodate these aircraft. It's going to happen more and more."

The collision happened at one of the nation's most congested airports on a rainy night when flashing lights reflecting off wet tarmac can obscure small aircraft. It comes as airports around the country are beginning to receive a new class of huge aircraft.

Fourteen airports, including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, have obtained waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration to receive the new Boeing 747-8, which falls into the same new size class as the A380. And Boeing is working with 13 more airports to get approval from the FAA, though not all may require waivers.

Most U.S. airports cannot legally handle the A380 or 747-8 because of FAA space requirements aimed at keeping planes from bumping into each other.

But the agency can issue waivers if airports agree to certain procedures, such as using only certain taxiways or halting traffic when one of these mammoth planes is on the move.

Many of the airports asking for permission to receive the Boeing 747-8 may have trouble handling them, especially when aircraft are turning, Tamm said. "A lot of these airports are only marginally ready."

The flurry of new waivers coincides with an increase in air traffic as the economy recovers. The number of passengers flying in the U.S. increased from 767 million in 2009 to 782 million in 2010.

Kennedy Airport was built in the 1950s, when jets were smaller. Airport officials had to secure FAA waivers for both the A380 and the 747-8.

Monday's collision might spur the FAA to take a second look at the airport's rules for handling large aircraft, said aviation consultant John Cox.

The National Transportation Safety Board is reviewing radio recordings, radar data and flight recorders from both aircraft.