Draft:1987 Delta Air Lines incidents

Inadvertent dual engine shutdown

On June 30, Delta Air Lines Flight 810, a Boeing 767-200, was involved in an inadvertent dual engine shutdown incident.

Near miss over the Atlantic

On July 8, Delta Air Lines Flight 37, a Lockheed L-1011-250 TriStar was involved in a near miss with Continental Airlines Flight 25, a Boeing 747-200, over the North Atlantic. The two aircraft were carrying a total of 589 people; 172 on the L-1011 and 417 on the 747. Both aircraft were flying westbound on transatlantic flights both originating in Gatwick Airport.^{[2]: 1, 3} Due to a lack of radar over the North Atlantic, air traffic control clearances assign flights to parallel North Atlantic Tracks (NAT) spaced 60 nmi (110 km) apart. The exact routing of NATs changes every day, so crews need to enter new coordinates for waypoints for each transatlantic flight. On July 8, Flight 37 was flying NAT C and Flight 25 was flying NAT D.^{[2]: 6–7 [3]} Both aircraft were flying at 31,000 ft (9,400 m) (flight level 310). After the Delta flight passed 30°W, it started to deviate south from NAT C. Flight 37's distance from Flight 25 continued to decrease as it approached NAT D. At approximately 16:25 UTC, the front half of the L-1011 passed under the rear fuselage of the 747.^[2]: 1 The two planes had a vertical separation of between 30 ft (9 m) and 100 ft (30 m).^[4] Neither pilot had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.^[5]

[NFF of Delta 37]

The crew of the Delta flight guided their plane back on course with assistance from an American Airlines Boeing 767.^[6] Upwards of 20 flight crews were aware of the incident,^{[2]: 10–11} and several crews discussed over the radio whether the incident should be reported to authorities. The crew of the Continental flight first indicated that they would report the incident. Several other crews however said that the incident should remain unreported, as it occurred outside radar coverage and only a few crews knew about it.^[2]: 13 The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times reported that the Delta crew did not want the incident reported.^[7][8] The Washington Post reported that an unidentified pilot said "no one knows about this but us, you idiot" after the Continental crew said that they were filing a report.^[7] The Continental crew responded that many people knew about the incident and that they had passengers pounding on the cockpit door crying, reporting that they saw "'the whole thing out of the windows.'"^[9] At least one passenger took a photo of the Delta aircraft.^[2]: 13 An Air Force Boeing 707 flying in the vicinity of the incident captured the conversation on the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder (CVR). The crew preserved the CVR to prevent it from being overwritten, and a copy of the recording was submitted to authorities.^{[2]: 8 [9]} Eventually, the Continental crew reported the incident to company dispatch when they were approaching New York.^[2]: 11

The Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB) conducted the investigation as the incident occurred in Canadian airspace.^[9] The CASB looked over the data in the aircraft's inertial navigation system

Other incidents