Near Miss at Denver Airport

This morning, a Frontier Airlines Airbus A-319 attempting to land at Denver International Airport came within fifty feet of a smaller charter plane that had erroneously entered its runway, according to federal aviation officials.

The crew of the Frontier airplane apparently spotted the Key Lime Air plane before a crash could happen. The Frontier jet aborted its landing and kept flying. The plane landed successfully a short time later, authorities said.

There were no injuries reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating this near-accident.

The Airbus A-319 has been in use since 1995 though it's unclear how long the plane involved in this near miss has been in use. The total capacity of the A-319 is anywhere from 124 to 142 people. Neither the airlines nor the investigators have indicated the number of passengers on the airbus or the charter plane.

According to the NTSB, the Frontier Airbus A-319 was en route to Denver from St. Louis, Missouri. The plane had emerged from low lying clouds and was about to land about 7:30 AM when the flight crew noticed the charter plane.

The charter plane was set to take off from Denver to Garfield County Regional Airport in western Colorado.

It was snowing and misty at the time, with half-mile visibility. As of yet, according to NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz, it wasn't clear if the weather contributed at all to the incident.