AN investigation has been launched into why a Hong Kong-bound Cathay Pacific jumbo jet came within seconds of a head-on collision with another airliner in what would have been the worst accident in aviation history.
A Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-200 was directed into the path of the oncoming Cathay plane over the Pacific by Tokyo air traffic control.
Sources said the Cathay captain was asleep in a bunk at the time and the co-pilot, one of four cockpit crew on board, turned the plane to starboard seconds before a collision would have occurred.
The two pilots also reacted to warning systems in their cockpits that directed the Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 to climb and the Northwest airliner to dive.
With a combined total of 676 passengers and crew on board the two planes, it would have been the worst aviation accident.
Cathay will submit a pilot's report of the incident to the Japanese Transport Department, which has launched an investigation.
A conversation between the pilots of the two aircraft shortly after the incident at 4.15 pm on Sunday established that the Northwest plane had minutes before been cleared to the 35,000-feet flight level from 33,000-feet by Tokyo.