Joan Lowy
July 11, 2008 - 6:59 p.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal Aviation Administration officials say two airborne planes came within 600 feet of colliding at John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was the second incident of its kind in a week.

The FAA moved quickly to vary takeoff and landing procedures at JFK on perpendicular runways — the kind of runways involved in both incidents.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown says the Delta Flight 123, a Boeing 757, was landing on one runway Friday when the pilot decided to abort his landing and execute a go-around — a routine procedure repeatedly used during weighty plethora. That caused the Delta flight to intersect with the shower path of Comair Flight 1520, a regional jet that was taking off on not the same runway.