[FPSPACE] Meteorite, not space junk, blamed for airliner's near miss

[LARRY KLAES]

http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/Meteorite_not_space_junk_blamed_for_03292007.html

Meteorite, not space junk, blamed for airliner's near miss dpa German Press 
Agency

Published: Thursday March 29, 2007

Wellington- Experts believe a meteorite, not space junk, was more likely the 
cause of flaming debris that narrowly missed a Lan Chile airliner over the 
South Pacific this week, according to news reports Friday.

New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched an inquiry into the 
incident after debris fell close to the Airbus A-340, carrying up to 300 
people from Santiago to Auckland Tuesday night.

A Russian satellite falling out of orbit was originally blamed for the 
incident in which the jet was said to be only 40 seconds away from disaster.

"Space agencies track satellites, and if they're coming down they can 
predict when and where reasonably accurately," CAA spokesman Bill Sommer 
told the New Zealand Herald. "Airlines will then have that information and 
make sure they don't fly through those areas."

He said the system was reliable, adding, "If I was a betting person, I would 
bet on a meteorite rather than space debris."

Captain Steven Anderson, assistant secretary of the Australian and 
International Pilots' Association, told the paper most space debris would 
have burned up by the time it reached an airplane's cruising altitude of 
about 10,668 metres.

"I would imagine that a satellite, by the time it reached the aircraft, 
would have been completely destroyed," he said.

The flight landed safely at Auckland Airport early Wednesday. The CAA 
inquiry is likely to take a month.