Incident Overview
A Cessna 421, registered N247CB, and Pan American World Airways Flight 542, a Boeing 727 registered N553PE, came close to colliding in airspace near New York on an unspecified date. The event occurred as both aircraft were under radar advisory and instrument flight rules (IFR) clearances.
Sequence of Events
At the time of the incident, the Cessna 421 was proceeding westbound at 10,500 feet, receiving radar advisories from New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON). Meanwhile, Pan Am Flight 542 was proceeding northeast at 10,000 feet with an IFR clearance.
At 1744:32 Eastern Daylight Time, the Liberty Sector controller instructed the Cessna pilot to change frequency to the LaGuardia Sector, which was the next sector to the west. The controller then changed the Cessna's data block to a limited data block.
At 1748, Pan Am Flight 542 was instructed to change frequency from the LaGuardia Sector to the Liberty Sector. At 1749:04, before the two aircraft had passed each other, the Liberty Sector controller cleared Flight 542 to climb to 17,000 feet and to turn to a heading of 080 degrees.
Evasive Actions
The Cessna pilot had received a traffic advisory from the LaGuardia controller and was watching Flight 542. When the Cessna pilot realized Flight 542 had started to climb, he pulled up to avoid a collision. At approximately the same time, one of the pilots of Flight 542 saw the Cessna and pushed the nose of the aircraft down for evasive action.
Aftermath
No collision occurred, and no injuries or damage to either aircraft were reported. The incident was documented as a near midair collision.