Jet Carrying Rev. Schuller Forced to Swerve to Avoid Collision Course at LAX

A stuck microphone button contributed to an exciting moment for passengers aboard a United Airlines jetliner that was preparing to land at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, was on the United flight when the jet was forced to swerve.

Fred O’Donnell, an FAA spokesman, said that as United’s Flight 65 from Washington approached LAX from the east, a stuck microphone button on another plane blanked out the radio frequency the United pilot was using to talk to air traffic controllers.

Seconds later, O’Donnell said, an automated radar system on the jetliner warned the pilot that the other plane--also unable to talk to controllers because of the stuck mike--was approaching on a collision course. The United pilot took evasive action, swerving to the right before landing.

Nervous passengers said the pilot explained over the intercom what had happened. There were no reports of injury.

O’Donnell said it appears that the two planes maintained adequate separation--at least three miles horizontally and 1,000 feet vertically--but he said the FAA was investigating whether either pilot violated any federal regulations.

Schuller was returning from a trip to the East Coast where he had conferred with President Clinton and spent Monday night at the White House. Schuller’s spokesman, Michael Nason, told KNBC-TV that the plane was close to the airport when it banked sharply right, accelerated and ascended.

“Dr. Schuller turned to me and said, ‘Well, that doesn’t feel like a normal approach to me,” Nason said.