I think I just saw two planes almost collide in mid-air right over my head!

[Brigid]

I was standing at a bus stop near my home. It is right on the approach to the Indianapolis International Airport. I see passenger planes like 737s and MD-80s coming in all the time. I heard what sounded like a small plane. I looked up, and sure enough, there it was--a Cessna, I think. Nothing unusual about that, but I remember thinking it was flying kind of low. Then it made what looked like an awfully sharp turn to the left. Then I saw an MD-80 coming in at what looked like the same altitude. The traffic noise had masked the sound of its engines. What was a small plane doing right in the approach path of a large airport?

[Panasonic]

1. When did this happen?

do you have a time frame that occurred?

[Brigid]

2. It happened yesterday.

About 4 pm.

[slackmaster]

3. It's very difficult for an amateur to judge the altitude of an aircraft from the ground

Small planes are usually lower than you think, and big ones are usually higher.

[Brigid]

4. Quite true, of course.

Still, that doesn't seem like a safe place for a small plane to be. And it looked like a pretty close call to me.

[slackmaster]

5. I've been in a small plane when a big plane went overhead

Even with a 2,000 foot difference in altitude, the turbulence from the wake of the big plane can be unsettling.