737, 145 in Near Midair

In what the FAA is calling a controller error, a Continental 737, narrowly missed a Continental Express Embraer 145 on January 17 and Newark Liberty Airport. While the FAA is investigating, it appears that a controller mistakenly gave the wrong frequency to one of the jets closing, instead issuing the frequency for another airport entirely. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association blamed the incident on FAA landing procedures at Newark and is disputing the agency’s conclusion that a controller made an error.
The incident occurred at 2:10 pm when Continental Flight 536 was on approach from Phoenix as it crossed the path of Continental Express Flight 2614 arriving from Halifax. The error occurred when a controller at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Center gave the ERJ 145 the frequency for Teterboro. Consequently, the ERJ 145, flown by ExpressJet, was unable to be contacted by Newark controllers. The two aircraft came within one and a quarter miles and 600 feet of each other.