The NTSB says the two planes came within an estimated 300 feet of colliding over San Francisco. At about 11:15 a.m. PDT on 27 March 2010, the crew of United Airlines Flight 889, a B777-222 (N216UA) carrying 251 passengers and a crew of 17, was cleared to takeoff from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on runway 28L and climb to an initial altitude of 3,000 feet.

UPDATED - click read more below.

Initial data suggests the flight carried 90 passengers and that witnesses claimed the plane caught fire before crashing on 25 January 2010.

See video reporting of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash.

The airline is quoted as stating that the flight carried 148 passengers and six crew. Injuries are said to be above 40 with no fatalities reported thus far.

787 Chief Pilot Mike Carriker and Captain Randy Neville tested the airplane's systems and structure as on-board equipment recorded and transmitted real-time data to the flight-test team at Boeing Field.

According to NASA the 327-foot tall Ares I-X test vehicle produced 2.6 million pounds of thrust which accelerated the rocket to nearly 3 g's and Mach 4.76, just shy of hypersonic speed. It capped its easterly flight at a sub-orbital altitude of 150,000 feet after the separation of its first stage, a four-segment solid rocket booster.

On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, at 5:56 pm mountain daylight time, an Airbus A320, operating as Northwest Airlines (NWA) flight 188, became a NORDO (no radio communications) flight at 37,000 feet. The flight was operating as a Part 121 flight from San Diego International Airport, San Diego, California (SAN) to MSP with 144 passengers, 2 pilots and 3 flight attendants.

Both pilots were interviewed separately by NTSB investigators yesterday in Minnesota. The following is an overview of the interviews:

On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, at 5:56 pm mountain daylight time, an Airbus A320, N03274, operating as Northwest Airlines (NWA) flight 188, became a NORDO (no radio communications) flight at 37,000 feet. The flight was operating as a Part 121 flight from San Diego International Airport, San Diego, California (SAN) to MSP with 147 passengers and unknown number of crew.

"The Board determined that the aircraft, a Bellanca 8KCAB-180 (N240R) struck mountainous terrain near Mammoth Lakes, California following an inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the downdrafts, high density altitude, and mountainous terrain."