Air France plane 300m from crash

AN AIR France passenger jet carrying 70 people has narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with another plane over the skies of Belgrade.

The flight from Paris to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia entered the path of a jet operated by Israeli company El Al, which had 120 travellers onboard heading from Tel Aviv to New York.

Emergency alarms alerted both pilots to the danger and the planes changed course at the last moment, just 300 metres away from a crash.

Serbian authorities say they have launched an investigation into what happened. In a statement, they claimed: "The French plane had not followed the instructions given by air traffic control."

Air France said its pilots had "applied the correct procedures" and it has opened its own internal investigation.
"At no moment was the plane or the passengers on board put in danger," the company said.

Photo: An Air France A319 similar to that involved in the incident. Credit Slasher-Fun