Residents: Airliner Flew Close to Condo
The Associated Press
Residents of a high-rise told federal authorities a China Airlines jumbo jet flew dangerously close to the side of their 41-story building.
Ana Marie Vaisanen said she could see passengers inside the Boeing 747 as it swept past her 12th-floor condominium at Century Center Saturday morning.
"This roar became louder and louder and louder ... and I look out and there is a 747," Vaisanen said.
Some residents told television station KITV the plane came within 30 feet of the building and that one of its wings passed over the fourth-floor recreation deck.
Building resident Sylvia Thomas was walking her dog when she looked up and saw the jet.
"It went behind the building and came out the other side," she said.
Tweet Coleman, the Federal Aviation Administration's Pacific representative, would only confirm witnesses reported a China Airlines 747 was involved.
"We're doing an investigation on it, so I really don't have any specifics at this time," Coleman said Saturday night.
A call placed to the airline's office at Honolulu International Airport seeking comment went unanswered.
At 350 feet, Century Center, a mixed retail-office-residential condominium building, is one of the tallest structures in Hawaii.
Good job there, almost starting a war with us and all. Just another reckless Chinese fly-boy much like what caused the EP-3 collision the other year.