Civil Aviation authority investigates near-collision at Hongqiao International Airport

China's civil aviation authority said on Wednesday that an air traffic control officer should be responsible for an accident at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on Tuesday where two passenger planes nearly collided into each other.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, a China Eastern Airbus A320 from Shanghai Hongqiao to Tianjin was taking off after getting permission from the air traffic control center, when its captain noticed an Airbus A330 of the same airline was ready to cross the runway ahead of it.

The captain quickly decided to carry on with the take-off and managed to fly over the other plane. He later reported it to the air traffic control center and both aircrafts arrived at their destinations safely.

The civil aviation authority launched an investigation overnight and made an initial conclusion that the air traffic control officer had made a mistake that caused the accident.

Further investigation is underway, it said on Wednesday.

Gu Jingwen contributed to this story.