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On Sunday, April 19, a 
Lufthansa Boeing 787 Dreamliner and a 
Qatar Airways Cargo Boeing 777F were involved in a close call over the skies of Bogotá, at one point being separated by just a few hundred feet. The flight paths of the two aircraft converged on final approach to Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport (BOG), forcing the Lufthansa 787 to execute a go-around maneuver as the 777F flew directly beneath it.
Early reports suggest an air traffic control (ATC) mistake was responsible for the loss of separation. A temporary runway closure at the airport led ATC to reassign the Lufthansa 787 to the same runway that the Qatar freighter was about to land on, without recognizing the potential for a midair collision.
Lufthansa And Qatar Jets Near-Miss Over Bogotá
The incident was first reported by Flightradar24 after the flight tracking platform was tipped off by one of its users, who noticed the two jets’ flight paths were dangerously close to each other on final approach. The two flights involved were LH542 — a long-haul passenger service from Frankfurt (FRA) — and cargo flight QR8174 from São Paulo (GRU), operated by a Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 777F, respectively. The incident occurred during near-dark conditions just before 7:00 PM local time, with a separate aircraft incident on one of BOG’s runways complicating matters.
The two flights were both cleared to land on BOG’s southern runway following the temporary closure of the airport’s northern runway due to an unspecified problem with another plane. The Lufthansa 787 was initially due to land on the northern runway, but was redirected following its closure. Because the Lufthansa plane was traveling at a higher approach speed, it put the jet on a possible collision course with the Qatar 777F, with just a few hundred feet of separation at their closest point of proximity.
Qatar 777F Lands Safely, Lufthansa Goes Around
The Qatar Cargo 777F continued its descent into BOG, landing safely at the airport moments later at 6:54 PM local time. Meanwhile, the Lufthansa jet performed a go-around maneuver, climbing to over 14,500 feet before re-approaching and touching down at the airport around 15 minutes later.
Flightradar24 data shows that the Lufthansa 787 had descended to an altitude of below 9,900 feet before initiating its climb again. The Qatar 777F was flying at a similar altitude at that moment, meaning that a midair collision was a real possibility had the Lufthansa flight crew not taken evasive measures.
Details on this incident remain limited, so it isn’t clear whether ATC ordered the go-around or if the Lufthansa pilots independently performed it after recognizing an imminent threat. Simple Flying has reached out to Lufthansa and Qatar Airways for comment on this incident and will update this story accordingly.
TCAS: 5 Things You Should Know About The Famous Safety System
Many unique features help avoid mid-air collisions.
The Dangers Of Loss-Of-Separation
Commercial flights are required to maintain a certain level of physical separation to prevent accidents, typically around 1,000 feet of vertical and three nautical miles of horizontal separation near airports. When two aircraft breach these proximity limits, this is known as a “loss-of-separation” event and has the potential to be tragic.
As a last line of defense against such occurrences, aircraft are equipped with a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which provides pilots with Resolution Advisories (RAs) instructing immediate climbs or descents to avoid other planes. TCAS identifies nearby traffic via transponder signals and automatically calculates potential collision risks. Since its introduction in the 1990s, the technology has prevented countless midair collisions, saving tens of thousands of passengers from potential accidents.
One of the most high-profile loss-of-separation incidents in recent years occurred in February 2023 at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). On that day, a FedEx Boeing 767 was cleared to land on the same runway from which a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was about to take off. Amid poor visibility and a breakdown in communications, the FedEx freighter is said to have come within 115 feet of the Southwest passenger jet, almost landing on top of it before initiating an emergency go-around.
